Intrauterine Insemination With Partner's Sperm
Treatment
Intrauterine Insemination with Partner’s Sperm
In a natural situation, the egg is fertilised by the sperm within the woman’s reproductive system. The fertilised egg then divides to form an embryo that will implant in the uterus and result in a successful pregnancy. If any of these steps are threatened or compromised for any reason, it may be more difficult for pregnancy to occur or it just may not be possible naturally.
Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a medically assisted reproduction (MAR) technique that, together with a mild hormone stimulation of your ovaries, may help overcome any problems preventing natural conception. In this technique, the sperm is treated in the laboratory and selected for direct insertion into your uterus, close to your ovulation date. IUI is a method with a success rate of around 15% to 20% per attempt. A maximum of three-to-four inseminations is considered reasonable. Success rates tend to fall after this and it is better to consider other treatments with higher efficacy rates, such as IVF or ICSI.
Intrauterine insemination is indicated in the following situations:
- Slight changes in the motility, morphology or quantity of sperm cells
- Couples with a history of infertility of less than three years
- Alterations in ovulation
- Ejaculation problems
- Difficulties in the sexual relationship
- Unexplained infertility
Intrauterine Insemination with Partner’s Sperm
Your Treatments Step By Step
1 – Tests and exams
One of the first steps is to perform tests and exams. Your physician needs them to assess your clinical status. The exams may include a gynaecological ultrasound, hormone tests, infectious disease screening or sperm count.
After assessing the results, your physician will decide which treatment is most appropriate to your diagnosis. We will now be able to start your treatment at any time suitable to you.
If you undergo IUI, there will be a four-to-five-week period between the start of treatment and your pregnancy test.
2 - Mild Ovarian Stimulation
The treatment begins with mild ovarian stimulation to make your ovaries produce more than one egg. Without medication, a woman’s ovary releases one egg (a potential embryo) in each cycle. In IUI, the idea is to develop more than one egg in order to increase your chance of conceiving.
You will take hormone medication, possibly by injection, to stimulate your ovaries. There are different protocols for ovarian stimulation and your physician will decide which one is best for you.
During ovarian stimulation (lasting an average of 10 days) we will need you to visit our clinic two or three times so that the growth of your follicles (small sacs where your eggs grow) can be monitored by ultrasound. Your protocol may be adjusted at any time and your hormone dosages may be changed. This ultrasound monitoring is therefore essential to the success of your treatment.
3 - Semen Collection
On the day of your intrauterine insemination, your partner will be asked to provide a sperm sample so that we can treat and process his sperm in the lab. The sample is provided by masturbation in the total privacy of a special room for that purpose.
4 - Optimisation of Sperm
After assessing the ejaculate, our embryologists will use lab techniques to select the sperm cells with the best motility and morphology. There are a number of techniques to improve sperm samples and our embryologists will make sure that they choose the most appropriate one for you.
5 - Intrauterine Insemination
After lab sperm optimisation, a slim, malleable catheter will be used to deliver the sperm directly into your uterus. This procedure is performed in an operating theatre but does not require any anaesthesia as it is not painful.
After the insemination, your physician will prescribe medication to help prepare your uterus for a possible pregnancy. It is important for you to keep taking this medication until your physician or one of our nurses tells you otherwise.
6 - Pregnancy Test
Today’s the day! After what we know is a difficult wait, it’s time to do the long-awaited pregnancy test. The test is normally conducted about two weeks after your insemination. You will have to take a blood test to confirm your pregnancy. You can take the test in the comfort of the AVA Clinic though, if this is not convenient, you can do it at any lab testing facility.
The AVA Clinic team wishes you the best of luck with your treatment. And don’t forget that you can contact us at any time if you have any questions.
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