Reproductive science makes possible many fertility treatments that help couples conceive. If you're suffering from infertility or are having trouble conceiving, exploring the possibilities made possible by reproductive science and the various fertility treatments and procedures available can be extremely worthwhile. As a general rule, infertility is defined as an inability to get pregnant after one year of unprotected sex. For women over 35, this may be changed to six months. If this situation applies to you, determining the cause of the problem is recommended.
Once the diagnosis has been made, couples may begin exploring the various fertility treatments available. Thanks to reproductive science, doctors are able to insert sperm directly into the uterus, where they will hopefully swim into the fallopian tubes to fertilize the egg. This is a procedure called intrauterine insemination (IUI) and is a relatively inexpensive option. Fertility drugs may be recommended to stimulate ovulation before performing the procedure, while the woman's cycle will be monitored in other cases.
If intrauterine insemination is unsuccessful, couples may turn to in vitro fertilization (IVF). This is another procedure made possible through studies and research in reproductive science. In this procedure, fertility drugs are also used to produce more eggs, which are extracted. They are then combined with sperm in a dish in a laboratory to create embryos. A few embryos are then transferred to the uterus, where they may implant in the uterine wall and develop. Embryo grading procedures may be used to determine which embryos may have the best chance of developing to help couples improve their odds. However, only a few embryos are transferred to reduce the chance of multiple births.
Male infertility factor may affect many men and may even reduce the success rate of IVF. To combat this, intracytoplasmic sperm injection may be used. This is a procedure in which sperm is directly injected into a mature egg to create an embryo.
Other advancements in the field of reproductive science have also made other fertility treatments and procedures possible. Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) is similar to IVF in that eggs are extracted and fertilized with sperm to create embryos in a laboratory, but instead of being placed in the uterus, they are transferred to the fallopian tubes. Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) is similar to ZIFT in that embryos are placed in the fallopian tubes, but in GIFT, fertilization actually occurs in the fallopian tubes instead of in a lab.
