Fertility treatment therapies include medication therapy and surgical intervention. There are different therapeutic and surgical interventions available for male and female infertile patients. However, failure of this conventional treatment or in unfeasible situations embryo implantation through assisted reproductive technology can also be recommended for a successful pregnancy.
Conventional medical therapy can successfully treat ovulation problems associated with female infertility but is unable to provide any benefit in case of fallopian tube damage and severe endometriosis. Patients having such types of problems usually require an in-vitro-fertilization technique.
In general, the diagnosis and treating underlying causes are primary to solving infertility problems. For example, thyroid hormone imbalance often causes female infertility, and medication to regulate the thyroid hormone level helps to conceive patients naturally.
Medication for female fertility
- Gonadotropins or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormonal therapy injected into the affected female ovaries for stimulating ovulation.
- Letrozole is an oral medication acted by reducing estrogen levels in ovaries and stimulating ovulation.
- Clomiphene or Clomiphene Citrate is another oral medication that stimulates hormonal release for egg maturation in the ovaries.
- Bromocriptine or Cabergolineis also an oral medication to control prolactin hormone levels. Enhancement of the prolactin hormone suppresses the ovulation level.
Surgical Intervention
- Blockage or partial damage to fallopian tubes can be solved by surgical intervention. However, the success rate is not significant to solve the infertility issue. In some cases, surgical intervention increases the risk of ectopic pregnancy, which leads to medical complications.
- The surgical intervention is also recommended for the removal of endometriosis patches, uterine polyps, fibroids, or scarring improving the fertility outcome.
Male Infertility treatment
- Certain medications are already invented and ordered for correcting hormone imbalances and erectile dysfunction related to male infertility.
- Surgical interventions can also be recommended by doctors for correcting blockage in the sperm tubular structure. This type of surgery helps sperm transport from the testicles to the penis.
- Male reproductive surgery can be used to restore testicles by repairing the varicocele. Medical researchers also reported varicocele repairing through surgical intervention can improve sperm health. However, the improvement of conception is not significant.
- Taking help from Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) services can help to improve the conception rate.
Assisted reproductive technology
Medical advancement brings many infertility treatment options which are safe and provide effective results.
- IUI technique is used for male infertility treatment. IUI technique makes sperm more concentrated form and directly inserted into the uterine cavity of the intended mother at the ovulation period to increase the scope of pregnancy. The IUI technique is effective in the case of the female partner is normal. The IUI procedure is completed within 24 hours.
- IVF is a well-established technique usually recommended when other infertility treatment does not provide effective result. The IVF process is commonly known as the test tube baby technique. In this technique, eggs from the intended mother/donor and sperm from the intended father or donor are artificially fertilized in the laboratory. The created embryo is then implanted into the mother’s uterus within 2 to 5 days. IVF technique is a lengthy process and couples need to visit the clinic multiple times.
- ICSI technique is quite similar to the IVS process, but single sperm is used in this technique. The sperm is directly injected into the egg for artificial fertilization in the laboratory setup. If fertilization is successful and the embryo is formed, then it transfers to the uterine cavity of the intended mother within 2 to 5 days. This process is specifically utilized for severe male factor infertility. In this process, a very less number of sperms are collected from semen samples or directly from the testis. Among them, high-quality sperm is selected for fertilization. Donor sperm can also be used in case of the absence of sperm or low viability of sperm.
- Hormone replacement therapy is applicable for menopausal women. Women after menopause can also have a scope to become pregnant through hormone replacement therapy. However, multiple tests require checking the ability to carry the pregnancy. Sometimes donor eggs are also used to increase the scope of pregnancy.
Newest fertility treatments
Different newest fertility treatments are undergoing clinical trials every day to provide new pregnancy options. Following are different newest fertility treatments:
- Ovarian cryopreservation is a procedure in which a certain part of ovarian tissue is surgically removed and preserved through freezing for future transplantation. This treatment is specifically recommended for women having cancer and prescribed treatment may hamper their fertility. In the modern age, women who want to secure their motherhood for the future because they have some other priorities in their early reproductive life may also opt for ovarian cryopreservation.
- In-vitro maturation (IVM) is quite similar to IVF. In IVF matured eggs and sperm are used for fertilization. But in IVM, immature eggs retrieve and then matured in a lab under very specific conditions.
- Hysterosalpingography is an established diagnostic procedure to monitor the fallopian tubes of a female. A recent study showed reported that oil-based contrast flushing in the fallopian tubes can improve fertility.
- Cryopreservation of eggs and embryos is possible for future use. Mature oocyte cryopreservation or egg freezing can be an option for women to preserve their fertility.
References
Ravi Sharma is a self-motivated, successful entrepreneur and has a solid experience in the fertility segment. and he is the director at ARTbaby Global (ARThealthcare). He is a pharmacy graduate with post-graduation in business administration and has 14 years of rich experience in the field of infertility segment. He loves to write about IVF, Surrogacy, and other ART (assisted reproductive technology) news, issues, and updates. He is a Pharmacy graduate (B. Pharm) and M.B.A (marketing).
His most recent success includes the successful launch of the medical tourism company, ARTbaby, which offers treatment options for infertility, egg donation, and surrogacy. He likes spending time with his family and writing about various aspects of IVF surrogacy and donating eggs.