Fertility Treatments

There are many different treatments that are advised according to the age, health, and preference of the couple involved. The following are some most common treatments.

Use of Fertility Enhancing Drugs

Fertility-enhancing drugs can improve the chances of getting pregnant in women with ovulation problems. The most common drug prescribed is Clomiphene citrate, which is effective as well as less expensive. This drug releases more than the usual one egg at a time, increasing the chances of pregnancy and multiple fetuses. Half of the women taking this drug are said to become pregnant within three menstrual cycles.

Hormone Injections

The women who fail to get pregnant even after using the above drug for 6 months are given injections of fertility hormones.  There are many different hormones that can effectively stimulate ovulation. About half of the women who get this injection get pregnant with multiple offspring.

Surgery  for fallopian tubes

Blocks in the fallopian tube may result in preventing the eggs from moving inside the fallopian tubes to the uterus. This may be due to pelvic infections or caused by previous surgery. Scar tissues in the reproductive tract that prevent the movement of eggs in the fallopian tubes are easily removed by using laparoscopic surgery. This facilitates the easy movement of eggs increasing 

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

A popular choice of many couples, intrauterine insemination (IUI) is the answer to a wide variety of infertility problems.  This is a procedure in which the sperm of the husband is directly placed in the woman’s uterus at the right time during her ovulation.  In this way, the distance the sperm has to travel to reach the egg is reduced greatly.  This costs less and is less invasive than the other method called IVF (In Vitro Fertilization

IUI using Donor Sperm

IUI can be done using sperm from a donor if there is no way to use the man’s sperms. Couples are made to meet a counselor if they are considering this option as they should understand the significance of the child who will not be biologically related to the father. This method may require a few attempts.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

When the above attempts fail, IVF can offer the hope of pregnancy as it removes the barriers between egg and sperm. The egg is taken out from the woman’s body and fertilized in a lab. After successful fertilization, the growing embryos are placed inside the uterus.

IVF using ICSI

This method is the same as IVF and is used when the man’s sperm count is extremely low or they do not move. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a procedure in which a single sperm is directly inserted into the egg. The embryos are then transferred to the uterus.

IVF using Donor Eggs 

Women who are unable to get pregnant due to poor egg quality usually consider this method.  The man’s sperm and another woman’s egg are used. An embryo is fixed inside the uterus of the woman. The woman becomes pregnant with a baby from her husband but not biologically related to her. This method also has a success rate of more than 55%.

Use of Donor Embryo

This method involves the use of embryos donated by other couples who have completed the IVF procedure. The child will not be biologically related to both parents though they can experience pregnancy and childbirth. This costs less than the regular IVF procedure.

Surrogacy

If the woman is unable to carry the pregnancy to its full term, surrogacy is the option to consider. The wife’s eggs are fertilized with the husband’s sperms and the embryos are transferred to the surrogate. The baby born in this way is biologically related to both the husband and wife.