Infertility Treatment: Medicine

Medical advice about fertility focuses on bolstering fertility for both men and women. For couples that been trying unsuccessfully for over one year, doctors will use a series of techniques from increasing egg production to in-vitro techniques to encourage fertilization.

Infertility can be treated with medicine, surgery, artificial insemination or assisted reproductive technology.

Fertility Drugs
Drugs are usually the first line of action in treating fertility issues. They are used in women to address issues with ovulation and hormonal imbalances and in men, issues with premature ejaculation and low sperm count.

As a first step in treating specific issues with infertility, doctors will often use medicines. Many drugs can increase chances of having twins or other multiples. Some common medicines used to treat infertility in women include:

• Clomiphene citrate (Clomid) causes ovulation by acting on the pituitary gland. It is often used in women who have problems with ovulation, particularly Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). * Human menopausal gonadotropin or hMG (Repronex, Pergonal) is often used for women who don't ovulate due to problems with their pituitary gland. hMG acts directly on the ovaries to stimulate ovulation. It is an injected medicine. * Follicle-stimulating hormone or FSH (Gonal-F, Follistim) causes the ovaries to begin the process of ovulation. These medicines are usually injected. * Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) analog are often used for women who don't ovulate regularly each month. Women who ovulate before the egg is ready can also use these medicines. Gn-RH analogs act on the pituitary gland to change when the body ovulates. These medicines are usually injected or given with a nasal spray.

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Fertility Procedures

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) are different intensive methods that used to treat infertility in couples. It involves removing eggs from a woman, fertilizing them with sperm in a laboratory and putting embryos back into the woman's uterus.

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Intrauterine Insemination or artificial insemination is a treatment for infertility in which a woman is injected with sperm in a practice or hospital setting. In order to increase chances of fertilization, the sperm is washed in a laboratory and concentrated in HamsF10 media without L-glutamine and warmed to 37C.¹

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Surgery is used to treat problems with a woman's fallopian tubes, woman's ovaries or uterus.

• Infertility and Fertility Drugs
• Infertility and Clomiphene Citrate
• Infertility and Human menopausal Gonadotropin (HMG)
• Infertility and Follitropin Alpha (FSH)
• Infertility and Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH)
• Metformin and Infertility
• Infertility and Bromocriptine
• Infertility and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
• Infertility and Artificial Insemination (AI)
• Fertility Clinics

Drugs are usually the first line of action in treating fertility issues. They are used in women to address issues with ovulation and hormonal imbalances and in men, issues with premature ejaculation...

Read more about Infertility and Fertility Drugs.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) are different intensive methods that used to treat infertility in couples. It involves removing eggs from a woman, fertilizing them with sperm in a laboratory...

Read more about Infertility and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

Artificial Insemination (AI) or Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) is a treatment to help a woman get pregnant by introducing sperm in a medical office or hospital setting. In order to increase chances...

Read more about Infertility and Artificial Insemination (AI).

1. Adams, Robert, MD. "Invitro fertilization technique", Monterey, CA, 1988