ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TREATMENTS: Dr Rama Sofat Hospital

              ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TREATMENTS

What are common assisted reproductive technology   techniques?

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is the placement of a man’s sperm into a woman’s uterus using a long, narrow tube.

More information on IUI includes the following

• IUI is most effective for treating:

o women who have scarring or defects of the cervix

o men who have low sperm counts

o men who have sperm with low mobility

o men who cannot get erections

o men who have retrograde ejaculation, a condition in which sperm are ejaculated into the bladder instead of out of the penis

• IUI can be used in combination with medications that stimulate ovulation; this combination can increase the chance of pregnancy in some cases.

• The success of IUI depends on the cause of the couple’s infertility. If inseminations are performed monthly with fresh or frozen sperm, success rates can be as high as 20% per cycle depending on whether fertility medications are used.

In Vitro Fertilization

During in vitro fertilization (IVF), eggs and sperm are taken from the couple and are incubated together in a dish in a laboratory to produce an embryo. A health care provider places the embryo into the woman’s uterus, where it may implant and result in a successful pregnancy as explained by Dr Rama Sofat .

The steps of IVF are

• Stimulation of Egg Maturation

• Egg Retrieval

• Fertilization

• Embryo Transfer

Egg Donation

This can be used when a woman does not produce healthy eggs that can be fertilized. An egg donor undergoes ovary stimulation and egg retrieval steps of IVF. The donated egg can then be fertilized by sperm from the woman’s partner, and the resulting embryo is placed into the woman’s uterus.

Egg donation may be particularly helpful for women who:

• Have primary ovary insufficiency (POI)

• Have had chemotherapy or radiation therapy

• Have had surgical removal of the ovaries

• Were born without ovaries