Surgeons performing surgery to harvest a woman's ova for in vitro fertilisation using a laparoscope inserted through the abdominal wall. The woman is given fertility drugs to stimulate the production of several ova, rather than the usual one. These are then removed and fertilised in a petri dish, using a fresh or frozen sample of the husband's sperm. If fertilisation is successful, embryos are transferred back into the woman's uterus via a catheter inserted through the cervix. 3-4 embryos are often introduced to increase the probability that one will implant. The photograph was taken at the Jones Institute in Norfolk, Virginia, one of the world's most successful IVF clinics.