How do Infertility Treatments Work and How Effective are they?

Infertility is a very sensitive issue that can lay an emotional impact on both partners and their families as well. However, science steps in to get the job done when nature fails. Every infertility treatment aims at bringing the male partners' sperm and the female partners' eggs together.

Continue reading to understand how effective infertility treatments are and how it works.

Infertility treatments can either take place in your womb or in the laboratory. It all depends on how complex matters are. Thus, we have discussed three common treatments to get a good idea of how infertility treatments work and their effectiveness.

1. Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

IUI is the most common, less invasive, and inexpensive infertility treatment, with a success rate of 10% to 15%.

It is the ideal choice for infertility treatment when the problem is low sperm motility or sperm count. Doctors place sperm inside the female partner's uterus in the IUI procedure to facilitate fertilization. The best time for doing IUI is when the woman ovulates or discharges mature eggs from their ovaries. 

Sperm from their male partner is collected and then inserted into their uterus using a catheter. The IUI remedy leads to an increase in the total number of sperm cells in the uterus, which further helps improve the possibilities of conception.

Couples who get this done every month might achieve a success rate as high as 20% per cycle. However, the success of IUI is not dependent on one factor but multiple others. For instance, the age of the female, the reason behind infertility, and whether any fertility drug was used are a few to mention.

2. In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)

IVF is another common infertility treatment, which is quite expensive and guarantees a success rate of around 40%-50% per cycle. But how does IVF work?

Well, for starters, this treatment is an ideal remedy to deal with both male and female infertility problems. IVF is an ingenious process and is the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) for infertility treatments. In its process, eggs are taken out from the female, and a sperm sample from the male is retrieved to make a combination of both in a laboratory dish.

After this, the embryo is passed on to the uterus. In general, test tube baby centres recommend this treatment to couples where the female has severely damaged fallopian tubes, or the male has poor sperm quality. 

The success rate of IVF depends on factors like the mother's age, partners' reproductive history, lifestyle, and the cause of infertility. For instance, if the woman is under 35, the success rate of IVF is 41%, 32% for women aged between 35 to 37, and 23% for women between 38 and 40.

3. Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

The next step after the success of IVF is ICSI. It is quite expensive but also guarantees a good success rate.

It is done by holding the matured egg with a specialized pipette, then with a sharp yet delicate hollow needle, immobilization is done to pick out a single sperm. Finally, another needle is used to reach the egg's cytoplasm to insert the sperm into it.

The following day, doctors check the eggs to find evidence of fertilization. If properly fertilized, this embryo gets transferred to the female's uterus.

Most fertility specialists recommend the ICSI treatment to couples whose male partner experiences very poor sperm quality and low sperm count.

Moreover, understanding, 'how does infertility treatments work?' is not enough. You should also lead a healthy lifestyle and cut back on smoking and drinking habits to increase your treatment's effectiveness.

Generally, it is pretty hard to identify if you are infertile and require infertility treatment. Additionally, there are not many signs that particularly help to determine infertility, apart from the fact that you face trouble getting pregnant or staying pregnant. To ensure that you have existing problems of infertility, seeking experts' advice is recommended.

A urologist or a gynaecologist is the best option to get advice from. They will provide you with accurate results and guide you with infertility testing. Generally, both partners need to participate to get a comprehensive infertility evaluation.

During infertility treatment, both men and women must go through severe medication and pop some pills now and then. As safe as these medications are, they also tag a few side effects. 

Fertility drugs, specially the ones that contain hormones, can cause the following side effects in women:

• Severe changes in mood or massive mood swings
• Feelings of nausea and vomiting
• Bloating or abdominal discomfort
• Trouble in sleeping
• Blurred vision
• Headache
• Cramps
• Breast pain
• Hot flashes and dizziness
• Abnormal menstrual bleeding or spotting
• Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome
• Risks of pregnancy loss
• And risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer

Furthermore, the side effects seen in men encompass the following:

• Headache
• Feelings of vomiting and nausea
• Dizziness and hot flashes
• Trouble in sleeping
• Overall weakness

Before opting for infertility treatment, consult your doctor about its side effects and what measures you should adopt to avoid getting severely impacted by it.

Being aware of how IVF treatment works and the side effects that couples experience during the course of the treatment is important. Similarly, being positive and considering similar factors during the treatment holds equal importance.

Keep in mind the list of factors mentioned below before opting for infertility treatment:

1. Choose an IVF Clinic Only After Thorough Research

You cannot choose an IVF clinic by reading ratings and reviews online. Research is essential, and for that, you need to visit the clinic in person. Additionally, consider getting referrals and opinions about the clinic.

Interview infertility specialists of different clinics before choosing an ideal one. Query about stuff like whether they use state-of-the-art technology and approaches. Furthermore, ask questions about the available financial options, such as coverage with health insurance, before proceeding with the treatment.

2. Duration of the Treatment

An infertility treatment requires complete commitment, comprising injections, ultrasounds, appointments, blood draws, phone calls, and multiple follow-ups.

The process is time-consuming and will reserve your schedule pretty well. Therefore, prepare and pre-plan the entire procedure accordingly.

3. Changes to Adopt in Lifestyle and Nutrition Intake

The key to good infertility treatment is adapting to a healthy lifestyle and checking nutrition intake. You and your partner can adopt a good lifestyle by committing to the following inclusions:

• Practice healthy eating by adding more greens and proteins to your diet.
• Stay active or practice moderate to minimum exercises; this can help improve your sperm quality.
• Maintain good oral health by taking care of your gums and cavities.
• Completely eliminate smoking and drinking alcohol from your schedule
• Aim to maintain a healthy weight and do not take too much stress.

4. Be Aware of the Best and Worst-case Scenarios

Infertility treatments are so complex that they do not come with any guarantee. Most doctors advise their patients to prepare for a minimum of three IVF cycles, with zero pregnancy guarantees.

Thus, you and your partner should be prepared for best and worst-case scenarios by being aware that literally no one has complete control over the results. Therefore, whatever the outcome couple should take on this treatment as a team and stay positive throughout.

In a nutshell, three common infertility treatments are available; however, the success rates are variable and more or less dependent on your lifestyle. After understanding how effective infertility treatments are, also consider their side effects and other relevant factors.