IUI with fertility medication can help overcome many causes of infertility
Your Austin fertility doctor may recommend IUI (intrauterine insemination) with fertility medication if you and your partner have unexplained infertility, low sperm counts or mild female factor infertility. IUI helps the sperm on its journey to reach the egg. This procedure can be especially effective when our doctors use fertility medications to stimulate your ovaries to help egg development.
Beginning the process of IUI with fertility medication
Intrauterine insemination involves using a small catheter to place sperm into your uterus around the time of ovulation. This fertility treatment can improve the likelihood that an adequate number of sperm will bypass the cervical mucous, swim through the uterine cavity and reach the fallopian tube, leading to fertilization. Hopeful parents can undergo IUI with or without fertility medication.
If your Austin fertility doctor decides that you could benefit from IUI with fertility medication, he or she will develop an effective and personalized treatment plan for you. The fertility medications raise the likelihood that you will ovulate and conceive after insemination.
Your physician will monitor you while you are taking your fertility medications. The frequency of monitoring visits will depend on the mediation you are taking, the dosage and the rate of growth of your developing follicles.
Around the time of expected ovulation, your male partner or sperm donor will provide a semen sample. He should avoid ejaculating for two to five days before collecting it. The man collects the sample through masturbation into a sterile container. The sample will then go to Ovation®, where the andrologists will prepare the sample by separating the active sperm from the inactive sperm and the seminal fluid.
What to expect on the day of intrauterine insemination
If you are taking oral medication, you will use an ovulation prediction kit to help your Austin fertility doctor determine the date of your IUI procedure. If you are taking injectable medication, your IUI timing will depend on when you take an injection to prepare the eggs for ovulation.
During the procedure, you will lie down on an exam table and your doctor will insert a speculum into your vagina. He or she will then place a thin, flexible tube through your cervix and release the prepared sperm sample into your uterus. This painless procedure takes less than two minutes.
After the insemination procedure, your Austin fertility doctor will ask you to stay still for about 10 minutes. You can then resume your normal activities, including returning to work. You may experience minimal to mild uterine cramping, light spotting and a vaginal discharge after the procedure. Please call your nurse if these problems don’t resolve promptly.
Success rates for intrauterine insemination with fertility medication
Your chance of pregnancy success depends on many factors, including your fertility medication, the quality of your partner’s sperm and your response to the medication. An IUI cycle with oral fertility medication typically produces pregnancy rates of 8-12%, while a gonadotropin cycle with IUI has pregnancy rates of 15-25%.
If you have any questions about starting IUI with fertility medication, please contact our knowledgeable and caring team. We are happy to guide you on the path to parenthood.