How To Cure Infertility

Surgery

Surgery is recommended for cases in which there is an obstruction that can be solved. Have in mind that this is not always possible, depending on the type of surgery and the kind of obstruction present. Vasectomy’s reversion and fallopian tube surgery are usual procedures, with variable degrees of success.

Drug Treatments

When the infertility is produced by the lack (or overproduction) of certain hormones, drug treatment is recommended. These drugs are specifically designed to regulate hormones and bring equilibrium to the natural male sperm production and female ovulation cycles.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

In vitro fertilization, or IVF, is a procedure that consists on inducing fertilization outside the female womb. This is done by extracting egg cells from the woman’s ovaries and placing them in a suitable fluid, where sperm is then added. After fertilization was successfully achieved, the egg cells are inserted into the woman’s uterus. As many eggs are used in order to maximize the chances of success, this method often leads to multiple pregnancies.

Artificial Insemination (AI)

This technique consists in placing the sperm into the woman’s cervix aided by external means (i.e. not by copulation). It’s a usual practice on male impotence cases, or when the ejaculation doesn’t have the necessary strength due to underlying physical problems.

Intrafallopian Transfer

There are two slightly different intrafallopian transfer techniques, and both are mostly used when there is a blockage in the fallopian tubes. The Gamete intrafallopian transfer consists on the extraction of egg cells from the woman’s ovaries, and then placing them inside one of the fallopian tubes along with sperm. This allows for in-body fertilization. The Zygote intrafallopian transfer, on the other hand, consists on placing an already fertilized egg into the tube. In this procedure, the fertilization takes place at the laboratory rather than inside the woman’s body.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

This in vitro procedure is performed by injecting the head of one healthy sperm into an egg cell. This has been successful in cases where the man has weak sperm that is not capable of breaking the outer membrane of the egg cell.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)

This is method of diagnosis that can detect genetically inherited diseases prior to pregnancy, thus giving the couple the chance to decide if they want to go on with their attempt to conceive a child. It is especially useful for detecting several monogenic diseases. It requires the extraction of egg cells and sperm for laboratory analysis, which is why it is often performed as an additional part of an in vitro fertilization treatment (IVF).

Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation means ‘preservation by freezing’. This technique can be useful to save sperm, ovarian tissue, egg cells or even embryos in case they are needed later. Many couples that went through an in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment choose to freeze the extra fertilized eggs that were produced in case something goes wrong during pregnancy, or just to avoid going through IVF again in case they want another child in the future.

Cryopreservation is also useful to preserve sperm, eggs or ovarian tissue when the man or woman has to be put under cancer treatment, radiation or other agents that may aggressively affect their cells or tissues and potentially decrease their future chances of conception.

Sperm Extraction

There are basically three ways of obtaining sperm for use in a fertility treatment. One is the usual way, ejaculation. But for men that have no sperm in their semen (azoospermia), there are other ways of retrieving useful sperm like Testicular Sperm Extraction and Epididymal Sperm Extraction.

Testicular sperm extraction is performed only when Epididymal sperm extraction cannot be performed as this procedure is a little more invasive (it consists on the perforation of a testicle with a very thin needle in an attempt to retrieve sperm). Epididymal sperm extraction, on the other hand, does not hurt the testicle in any way, as the sperm is retrieved from the fluid in the epididymal tubules outside the testicle.

Both sperms are suitable for fertilization, but since epididymal fluid contents are more mature than testicular contents, the chance of successfully cryopreserve epididymal sperm is much higher.

Alternative Treatments

Some doctors may recommend alternative treatments such as acupuncture, the use of ancient Chinese medicine practices, and herbal therapy. While many people have reported these treatments to be effective, you should certainly follow your doctor’s advice and by no means begin these treatments without asking him/her first.

Others

For more ideas on how to cure infertility, please check out my pregnancy eBook reviews to find out how some women overcame their infertility to get pregnant.

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