Your Fertility Questions Answered

While it might seem counterintuitive, to prepare your body for IVF you’ll take birth control pills. These help prepare your ovaries to better respond to stimulation medication and also help coordinate your cycle so treatment can be planned accordingly.

Next, you’ll begin hormone therapy, either taken as a pill or injectable medication. This medication encourages your ovaries to produce more mature eggs than they would naturally. The end goal is to get at least three mature and fully developed eggs.

Once you’ve produced enough mature eggs, you’ll receive a hormone injection that induces ovulation (releasing of the eggs). After about 36 hours, you’ll return to our office for the outpatient egg retrieval procedure.

The IVF process typically spans 4-6 weeks, involving ovarian stimulation, egg retrieval, fertilization, embryo transfer, and pregnancy testing. Success is not guaranteed, and multiple cycles may be needed. The timeline can vary based on individual circumstances and clinic protocols.

IVF and IUI are two different types of fertility treatments to achieve a pregnancy. IUI, or Intrauterine Insemination, is a process where sperm is placed directly inside a woman’s uterus to facilitate fertilization. IVF, or In Vitro Fertilization, is a process where eggs and sperm are combined outside of the uterus to create fertilized embryos. Following IVF, an embryo can be transferred to the womb to develop. 

Similar to the issues that may affect fertility for women, weight, smoking, excessive caffeine, consuming alcohol, drug use, and stress are all lifestyle factors that may affect fertility or IVF success for men.

Weight, smoking, consuming alcohol, drug use, excessive caffeine, exposure to toxins, stress, and over-exercising are all among common factors that may affect fertility or IVF success for women.

The appropriate number of developing follicles in an IUI cycle is highly dependent on your age and history. Your doctor will be able to set your medication based on this information aiming for the best and safest outcome.

After an IUI, you’ll take medications to help support your pregnancy in the early stages. 

After about two weeks, you’ll come back into the clinic for an HcG pregnancy test. Patients with positive pregnancy test outcomes are followed closely by both their navigator and provider with labs and ultrasounds to ensure the pregnancy is progressing successfully until graduation to their OB/GYN. If your pregnancy test is negative, we’ll schedule a follow-up visit to discuss your options.

Unless instructed otherwise by a doctor, you can return to normal activity immediately following an IUI procedure. It is typical to experience some light spotting and cramping in the days following the procedure. Additionally, it is important to treat your body as though it’s pregnant by avoiding alcohol, drugs, and limiting caffeine.

Implantation typically occurs 6-12 days after an IUI is conducted.

The cost of Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) varies widely depending on factors like location, clinic, fertility medications, and insurance coverage. Compared to other types of fertility treatments, it's one of the cheapest options out there. It's also a fast outpatient procedure.

The IUI procedure is a low-risk fertility treatment, but there are some potential symptoms and side effects to be aware of. Risks associated with IUI include mild discomfort, spotting, infection (rare), ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (if fertility medications are used), a slightly increased risk of multiple pregnancies, and a small risk of ectopic pregnancy. The success of IUI is not guaranteed, and not all couples achieve pregnancy with this method.

There are a number of factors that can lead to a successful IUI. The success rate of Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) can vary significantly depending on several factors, including the underlying cause of infertility, the age of the woman, the quality of sperm used, and the experience of the healthcare provider performing the procedure. Success rates are typically reported in terms of the likelihood of achieving a pregnancy per cycle of IUI.

On average, the overall success rate for IUI typically ranges from 10% to 20% per cycle. This means that, on average, 10% to 20% of couples will achieve a pregnancy after one cycle of IUI.

There are a few tasks that need to happen in preparation of an IUI procedure:

• Ovulation monitoring: Your doctor may monitor your natural ovulation cycle to schedule your IUI. This might involve an ultrasound and bloodwork to view ovarian follicles and determine the stage of your cycle.
• Semen sample preparation: A semen sample is not only collected, it's also optimized to maximize the chances of successful fertilization. It is washed to remove dead and weak cells, as well as bacteria. It also removes seminal fluid so only the strongest sperm cells are used in the IUI process.
• Optimal timing: As you go through the preparation stages for your IUI procedure, your doctor will schedule the treatment on the optimal timing based on your body and evidence-based best practices. In addition to monitoring your ovulation, the process is also scheduled based on research revealing the best IUI time is the 24- to 36-hour window following the trigger shot.

The process starts by notifying the clinic on the first day of your cycle. Depending on your treatment plan, you typically take a limited course of oral medications that encourage the recruitment and growth of 1-2 dominant follicles. This is followed by a trigger shot to induce ovulation. The timing of the trigger shot is determined by an ultrasound to see and measure the dominant follicles.

A day or two after the trigger shot, you'll come to the fertility clinic for insemination. The sperm sample is collected and processed, which essentially extracts the seminal fluid and only uses healthy sperm cells. Similar to a pap smear, the cervix is visualized using a vaginal speculum and the sperm is inserted through a tube that goes through your cervix into the uterus. The sperm is then deposited. Read more about IUI here .

The difference between IUI and IVF is that IUI inserts washed semen into a uterus in an attempt to fertilize an egg, while IVF creates an embryo in a lab and then transfers it in the uterus where it hopefully implants.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) is a process where sperm is placed directly inside a woman’s uterus to facilitate fertilization. IUI is performed to increase the number of sperm that reach the fallopian tubes thereby increasing the chance of fertilization. Read more about IUI here .

There is currently no evidence that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems.

Unexplained infertility refers to fertility cases in which standard infertility testing cannot identify a cause.

Each individual is unique, and your doctor will discuss the tests they prescribe with you. These may include the following for you and your partner:

• Blood work
• Semen analysis
• Ultrasound of follicles
• Hormone testing

If you’re over 35 years old and have been trying to conceive for 6+ months unsuccessfully, it might be time to consult with a fertility specialist.

Absolutely. Sperm is half the equation and 40-50% of couples that face infertility are due to male factor infertility¹. About 2% of all men exhibit suboptimal sperm (low sperm concentration, poor sperm motility, abnormal morphology). Male fertility rates have been declining for decades: a 2017 paper showed a 50-60% decline in sperm concentration between 1973 and 2011 in men from around the world².

There are many factors that cause infertility, impacting all genders. Factors affecting fertility may include PCOS, endometriosis, low sperm count, and more.

It's important to note that infertility is often a multifactorial issue, and it may be caused by a combination of factors in some cases. If you’re experiencing difficulties in conceiving, connect with us for guidance. Treatment options can vary depending on the underlying causes, and they may include lifestyle changes, medications, surgical procedures, or assisted reproductive technologies.

For most couples, infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant despite having unprotected intercourse frequently for at least one year (or 6 months if a woman over 35). Infertility affects 10-15% of couples in the United States.