Do you want to know which fertility treatment suits you the best?

This pandemic is indeed hard for everyone. Life is slowly getting new normal, people are getting used to it but the corona virus or covid 19 is still here.  It can be hard enough to tie your shoes in the morning or put yourself to bed at night. Depression, work from home pressure, anxiety, nervousness have all become a part of life.

Many known persons or even bollywood celebrities are either expecting or gave birth to their child during this pandemic. Now whether you’re trying to get pregnant right now, or you’re just educating yourself for the future and even if you’re dealing with fertility issues, you can’t exactly tell yourself to just stop thinking about it. Because there is a good news; with the help of a specialist, there’s a lot of valued information available.

Infertility is very common in India. Nearly 27.5 million couples are actively trying to conceive and suffer from infertility in the country. Though people are aware of infertility treatments like IVF, IUI, sperm donors or even surrogacy etc; thanks to our Indian media for that for spreading such great and valued information and even recent Kriti Sanon starrer bollywood movie Mimi is entirely based on Surrogacy. But still people are not educated about what fertility treatment they require in their current situation as IVF or Surrogacy is not for everyone.

For starters, we wanted to find out exactly what IVF and IUI are and how they might help a woman get pregnant. Also one must be curious to know about cost, alternative medicine, sperm donors, surrogates, and a lot of other things. Let’s discuss the treatments below:

1.    First and foremost, let’s get our terms straight. What is IVF, and how does that work in terms of fertility?

IVF or in-vitro fertilization involves removing a woman’s eggs from her ovaries and fertilizing them in a tightly controlled laboratory environment with the previously collected sperm.

a)   What are the pros of IVF?

If you have had trouble getting pregnant, IVF can be a road toward conception. IVF, a type of assisted reproductive treatment, has afforded many couples the opportunity to create a family, or add to their families, who may not have been able to conceive naturally. This procedure is very beneficial to women who may have blocked or absent fallopian tubes and for men who have low sperm parameters.

b)   What about the cons of IVF?

IVF process needs your time. It isn’t exactly cheap also. Without insurance support, this can be a very expensive procedure as this process involves the use of lot of injections and a time commitment of several visits to the doctor for monitoring.

It’s not just physically and financially taxing; IVF can also take a toll on your mental health sometimes because some may not conceive in one go depending on your condition and cause of infertility.

2.    Moving on—what’s artificial insemination, and how does that work in terms of fertility?

Artificial insemination same as IUI or intrauterine insemination is another assisted reproductive treatment procedure. This process involves the partner collecting a sperm sample, which is then washed in the laboratory, to remove sperm from the seminal fluid. Capping the process off, a high concentration of sperm is placed high into the uterine cavity, which bypasses the cervix, releasing the sperm closer to the fallopian tubes.

a)   What are the pros of IUI?

IUI is less expensive than IVF and a bit more in reach and it allows fertilization to still take place inside the body.

b)   What are the cons of artificial insemination?

IUI is less complicated and less costly but it’s also less effective. Pregnancy rates are not as high compared to IVF. There’s also a time commitment for office visits, but not as frequent as in IVF.

Read this also: Why you should not delay seeking fertility treatment?

3.    What is sperm donation?

Sperm donation involves a donor a male candidate who provides sperm samples that will be used in the process of IVF or IUI to help a woman conceive a baby. The use of donor sperm is beneficial to women who do not have a male partner or a couple who is not able to conceive due to male-factor infertility.

This can be a good solution to these situations, but it doesn’t necessarily come without strife. The decision to use a sperm donor, due to an inability to provide one’s own sperm, can initially create emotional and psychological stress in some cases.

4.    What about alternative medicine methods like acupuncture?

Alternative medicine, such as acupuncture, can be beneficial in combination with assisted reproductive treatments such as IUI and IVF as it could help normalize the menstrual cycle as well as hormone levels. It may also increase blood flow to the uterus and ovaries, which can help with implantation.

5.    Are there other options other than IVF and IUI that are a good idea for women to explore if they’re having fertility issues?

Other treatment options may include the use of only fertility medication, which would be beneficial to couples that are noted to have ovulation dysfunction or anovulation or no ovulation.

Others might go with an egg or an embryo donation. Some couples may need oocyte—egg—donation, or choose embryo donation, some couples will need a gestational carrier or a surrogate to help them create their families.

If you decide to go with egg donation then it involves a recipient, a male partner, and a third party, an egg donor, who is usually less than 30 years of age. A donor will use fertility medication to recruit eggs for in-vitro fertilization. Her eggs are then fertilized with the partner’s sperm to create embryos. The recipient will carry the pregnancy.

6.    What is surrogacy?

In some cases, a couple will be able to create their own embryo with in-vitro fertilization, but the female may not be able to carry the pregnancy, therefore a gestational carrier or a surrogate is needed. A gestational carrier is someone who carries a pregnancy and gives birth to a baby for another couple or individual. Some even due to career pressure doesn’t want to take the pressure of nine months pregnancy, hence want to go for surrogacy but that’s not the case. One cannot opt for surrogacy based on this reason alone. You ought to have some medical problem and anyways there are various laws in India to be followed for surrogacy.

Watch Mimi Trailer here: Kriti Sanon's Mimi

7.    If a woman is told she won’t be able to conceive naturally, how should she choose which method to go with—IVF, IUI, or something else? How would a sperm donor factor in here? Is there one option she should start with first?

It all depends on what kind of infertility she’s dealing with. The treatment option will be recommended according to the patient’s infertility findings. If a woman’s fallopian tubes were blocked, she would need IVF.

If the patient’s diagnosis is anovulation, only fertility medication for ovulation induction may be needed. In many cases, the diagnosis is unexplained infertility, where cause is unknown, and sometimes starting with IUI and fertility medications may be used for a few cycles, and if unsuccessful, the next step could be IVF.

In other words, this is not a one-answer-fits-all scenario. But with the help of a knowledgeable, trustworthy doctor, there are ways to get pregnant apart from, you know, the one we’re all aware of. We at Shantah IVF Centre is your solution to all the fertility needs and treatments.  If you would like to start your fertility journey with Shantah IVF Centre then do call us on +91 11 41040956  or +91 9958726341 or +91 9958466687 and you can also connect with us through our Facebook page and we will be in touch to arrange a consultation.