Introduction to infertility treatments

Enjoying motherhood is the most rewarding and satisfying thing on earth. But, some women feel they are deprived of this feeling. It has been found that every 1 in 5 couples has trouble in conceiving a child. Infertility in women can be due to a number of medical and other causes. The problem could be related to ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus or lifestyle. Even men do experience problems such as low sperm count and low quality of sperm, both of which are the major causes of infertility in men. There is an array of treatments available for infertility in men and women. The doctors recommend specific treatments for infertility on the basis of test results, age of the couple, overall health of the partners and the cause of infertility.

Infertility treatment for women

Fertility drugs are commonly used to facilitate ovulation. If the woman has irregular periods, it may indicate irregularity in ovulation. There are different ways to induce ovulation, such as drugs, tablets or hormonal injections. These drugs work by stimulating the release of female hormones that help in ovulation. During the ovary stimulation process, the woman is closely monitored.

Surgery is done in cases where blocked fallopian tubes are the cause of infertility.

Assisted reproduction methods are used in some cases where the main problem is inability to conceive. During the Assisted reproductive technology, the fertilization of eggs is done outside and then fertilized eggs are implanted in a woman’s uterus.

These fertility treatments include:

• IVF (in-vitro fertilization),
• GIFT (Gamete Intrafallopian transfer)
• and ZIFT.

In in vitro fertilization, hormonal injections are given to stimulate the ovaries. Matured eggs are picked up and combined with the sperm collected from the partner of woman. These fertilized eggs are placed in to incubators where they develop in to embryos. Embryo transfer is done where embryos are implanted in to the woman’s uterus.

Infertility treatment for men

There are several treatments available to treat infertility in men.

• Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) method is used to improve the number of sperms reaching the site of fertilization.
• Another method that is used to treat the condition of low sperm count is Intracytoplasmic sperm injection. In this method, the single is directly injected in to the oocyte. This method is used in conjunction with IVF. The success rate of ICSI is 70 percent.

Egg donation and sperm donation are also becoming increasingly popular option to achieve parenthood. These methods are used in cases where the quality of sperm and eggs in men and women are not very good, and this leads to repeated miscarriage.

Despite the advancement in ARTs, pregnancy does not always happen. There are several factors that affect the outcome of infertility treatment, on Gold Coast for example. These include the advancing age of the woman, high levels of FSH hormone, high Body mass index in women and prolonged infertility.

The medical causes of infertility in men and women are treated with surgery and medications. However, apart from conventional treatment, you need to take care of your physical as well as mental health. General good health always contributes to ability to conceive.