GIFT

acronym (Health and Fitness) (Science and Technology) Short for gamete intra-fallopian transfer, a technique for helping infertile couples to conceive, in which eggs and sperm from the couple are inserted into one of the woman's Fallopian tubes ready for fertilization. Etymology: The initial letters of Gamete Intra-Fallopian Transfer; a gamete is a mature cell able to unite with another in reproduction. Like many recent acronyms, this one seems to be chosen for the significance of the resulting 'word': the technique presents the infertile couple with the much-wanted gift of a child. History and Usage: The technique was developed in the US during the mid eighties as a more 'natural' alternative to in vitro fertilization. Since, using this technique, it is possible for fertilization to occur within the human body, GIFT has proved more acceptable on moral and religious grounds than IVF, the technique which produces 'test-tube babies'. GIFT as a term is often used attributively, in GIFT technique, GIFT delivery, etc. GIFT, which is operating in several non-Catholic hospitals, has a success rate of about 20 per cent. Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 5 Apr. 1988, p. 17 They thought that GIFT...treatment would give them a much-wanted baby. New Statesman & Society 15 Dec. 1989, p. 22 See also ZIFT