Treatment Plans for assisted conception

Treatments Offered

As with fertility treatments, there are multiple methods of assisted conception, however, only a trained physician would be able to recommend one tailored for you, to guarantee effective conception.

Most, if not all, procedures stated take place after ovulation induction. Ovulation induction involves taking medication to induce ovulation, thus increasing the chance of conception.

Ovulation induction is especially needed in cases where the female partner has irregular menstrual cycles. Ovulation Induction is often induced via oral medication or injection, depending upon the drug being used.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

IUI is considered a pretty standard procedure for infertility, where a medical practitioner takes sperm cells from the male partner, and inserts them into the female partner’s uterus during the time of ovulation, which is often induced using hormones that are prescribed by the doctor.

IUI helps cut does the time and distance the sperm has to travel to fertilise the egg. IUI proves to be a less expensive option, compared to other assisted conception treatments. The procedure itself only takes 5-10 minutes, and is relatively painfree.

IVF With Blastocyst Transfer

Unlike traditional IVF, where doctors transfer embryos to the female partner’s womb when they reach 2-8 cell stage, in a blastocyst transfer, the embryos are first grown for 5 days before implantation into the uterus.

Before implantation, the healthy blastocysts are chosen, to prevent chance of multiple conception, such as twins or triplets, while still keeping a high success rate.

Intracytoplasmis Sperm Injection (ICSI)

During ICSI, doctors inject the sperm into the egg, in a lab setting. This treatment is beneficial for when the male’s sperm count is low, or have low mobility. The embryo is then placed in his partner’s uterus, as in traditional IVF procedure.

Donor Embryos

Donor embryos should only be considered an option for couples who have no issues raising a child who is not biologically related to them. The use of donor embryos tends to be cheaper than IVF, so may be more financially feasible.

Embryos are taken from couples who have left over embryos after IVF, or couples who donate their embryos. The embryo is then implanted into the uterus of the female partner.

Surrogacy

Surrogacy is an option for those who have inhospitable uteruses, or would prefer not to go through pregnancy. Doctors use IVF to make an embryo with the female partner’s eggs and the male partner’s sperm.

The embryo is then implanted into the surrogate, who goes through pregnancy. The baby would biologically be related to both partners.

Sperm Donation

This if often an option for fertile woman, who can choose IUI using a donor’s sperm, instead of her partners. Even though it may take several tries, the chance of success is over 80%. However, note should be taken that the child would not be biologically related to the male partner.

Invitro Fertilisation (IVF)

IVF tends to be a last resort of sorts, due to its high success rate, but expensive nature.

First, the female partner takes medications that make several of her eggs mature and ready for fertilization. A doctor then proceeds to take them out of the uterus, and to a lab.

The sperm is taken from her male partner, and they are combined in the lab. Doctors then proceed to place the formed embryos in the woman’s uterus. IVF is a procedure with multiple steps, and may take months to complete the whole procedure.

IVF With Donor Egg

If the female has poor egg quality or hasn’t had success with previous cycles of IVF, using a donor egg is often recommended.

During this process, the male partner’s sperm is combined with eggs that were donated by another woman. It should be taken into consideration that the child would not be biologically related to the female partner.

Assisted Hatching

Assisted hatching involves an embryologist opening a tiny hole in the outer membrane of the embryo. This opening helps increase the chances of the embryo implanting into the uterine wall.

This is often used in cases where IVF has not been effective, or if there is a history of embryos with poor growth rate.

I'm simply thankful to Dr. Lakshmi, as after visiting for just 3-4 months, I conceived through IUI on the first try. Every doctor who I visited before Dr Lakshmi said that my reports were normal, but I was still unable to conceive, so I got into a little depression, Dr. Lakshmi helped me to conceive without wasting much time

Nisha