A child may be interested in what IVF is because this is part of their story, or perhaps how a sibling or friend is conceived. If IVF is part of your journey as a family it will likely be something you chat about again and often.
The suggested responses here are written for the child who has been conceived by IVF. Language can be changed to describe the process more generally, say to a sibling or a child with a general question. You can of course adapt this text to fit your family make-up and the reasons for use of IVF.
3, 4 and 5-year-olds
We offer this suggestion for the very young child with questions.
To make a baby you need a tiny little egg from a woman, and you need the seed from a man. Some parents need help to make their baby. We needed some help to make you. So, a doctor helped us bring together the egg and the seed. This was the beginning of you. We call this IVF.
6, 7 and 8-year-olds
For children of this age, we suggest this response.
To make a baby you need a tiny little egg from a woman, and you need the seed (called the sperm) from a man. Some parents need help to make their baby. We needed some help to make you. So, a doctor collected eggs from mum. Dad gave the doctor some sperm. Then the doctor combined the egg and sperm in the laboratory, this is called making an embryo. The embryo was the beginning of our baby, the beginning of you. The doctor put the embryo back into mum’s womb. Now mum was pregnant. You grew and grew until you were born. When parents get this kind of help from the doctor it is called IVF which is a short way to say in vitro fertilisation.
9 and 10-year-olds
11 and 12 year-olds
For children of these ages, we suggest this response.
To make a baby you need a little egg from a woman, and you need the seed (called the sperm) from a man. A woman’s eggs are inside her body, a part called the ovaries. A man’s sperm is made in his testicles which are inside the bag of skin that hangs behind his penis.
Some parents need help to make their baby. We needed some help to make you. So, a doctor collected eggs from mum. Dad gave the doctor some sperm. Then the doctor combined the egg and sperm in the laboratory, this is called making an embryo. The embryo was the beginning of our baby, the beginning of you. The doctor put the embryo back into mum’s womb. Now mum was pregnant. You grew and grew until you were born. When parents get this kind of help from the doctor it is called IVF which is a short way to say in vitro fertilisation.
13, 14 and 15 year-olds
16, 17 and 18 year-olds
This question is likely to come from a younger child, but if there is a need to answer this question for older young people you can use/adapt the response above. You might also want to discuss more detail about fertility issues, but this will be very much about your family circumstances and what you feel your child needs or wants to know.