How Is Female Infertility Treated?
Laparoscopy. If you have been diagnosed with tubal or pelvic disease, one option is to get surgery to reconstruct your reproductive organs. Your doctor puts a laparoscope through a cut near your belly button to get rid of scar tissue, treat endometriosis, open blocked tubes, or remove ovarian cysts, which are fluid-filled sacs that can form in the ovaries.
Hysteroscopy. In this procedure, your doctor places a hysteroscope into your uterus through your cervix. It’s used to remove polyps and fibroid tumors, divide scar tissue, and open up blocked tubes.
Medication. If you have ovulation problems, you may be prescribed drugs by your doctor. The drugs can also help you get pregnant by causing your ovaries to release multiple eggs. Normally, only one egg is released each month.
Your doctor may suggest that you take gonadotropin if you have unexplained infertility or when other kinds of treatment haven’t helped you get pregnant.
Intrauterine insemination. For this procedure, after semen gets rinsed with a special solution, a doctor places it into your uterus when you are ovulating. It is sometimes done while you are taking meds that help trigger the release of an egg.
In vitro fertilization (IVF). In this technique, your doctor places into your uterus eggs that were fertilised in a dish.
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a complex series of procedures used to help with fertility or prevent genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child.
During IVF, mature eggs are collected (retrieved) from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. Then the fertilized egg (embryo) or eggs (embryos) are transferred to a uterus. One full cycle of IVF takes about three weeks. Sometimes these steps are split into different parts and the process can take longer.
IVF is the most effective form of assisted reproductive technology. The procedure can be done using your own eggs and your partner’s sperm. Or IVF may involve eggs, sperm or embryos from a known or anonymous donor. In some cases, a gestational carrier – a woman who has an embryo implanted in her uterus – might be used.
Your chances of having a healthy baby using IVF depend on many factors, such as your age and the cause of infertility. In addition, IVF can be time-consuming, expensive and invasive. If more than one embryo is transferred to your uterus, IVF can result in a pregnancy with more than one fetus (multiple pregnancy).
Your doctor can help you understand how IVF works, the potential risks and whether this method of treating infertility is right for you.
Causes of female infertility
Damage to your fallopian tubes. These structures carry eggs from your ovaries, which produce eggs, to the uterus, where the baby develops. They can get damaged when scars form after pelvic infections, endometriosis, and pelvic surgery. That can prevent sperm from reaching an egg.
Hormonal problems. You may not be getting pregnant because your body isn’t going through the usual hormone changes that lead to the release of an egg from the ovary and the thickening of the lining of the uterus.
Cervical issues. Some women have a condition that prevents sperm from passing through the cervical canal.
Uterine trouble. You may have polyps and fibroids that interfere with getting pregnant. Uterine polyps and fibroids happen when too many cells grow in the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. Other abnormalities of the uterus can also interfere,
‘Unexplained’ infertility. For about 20 per cent of couples who have infertility problems, the exact causes are never pinpointed.