The first baby born from IVF was born in in July 1978 as a result of treating a woman with block fallopian tubes. That baby resulted from the pioneering work of Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. Today IVF is practiced in almost every country in the world and is it probably that over 300,000 babies have now bee born as a result of this procedure.
In IVF eggs are surgically removed from a woman - often as a result of hormone stimulation to produce several eggs -and fertilized in a dish or test tube. The word "in vitro" is the Latin word for "glass". 18-22 hours later the first signs of fertilisation may be seen (see Pronuclei in the glossary) and 40 hours later the first cell divisions may confirm that the embryo is developing. The embryos may be transferred to the woman's's uterus at this stage or, with recent developments, grown to a blastocyst stage before transfer. Development of implanted embryos takes place in vivo - i.e. in the body. A few days in the laboratory - the rest in the uterus.
IVF inevitably involves some cost - specialized clinics (with specialized laboratories and trained personnel) need to be involved and drugs and hormones used. The average cost in America (ASRM source) is $ 7,800. In The UK it might be 2-3500 UK pounds ($3,500 - $5,000). The cost of drugs and hormones may be added to these costs.
The average live delivery rate was 22.5% in the USA - so one can say that a couple has about a 20% chance in any given month. The figures for UK and for Europe would be similar.