Do Drugs and Surgery Help in Infertility Issues?

It is quite normal to use a mixture of fertility drugs and surgery prior to beginning In Vitro Fertilization treatment. Drugs can help spark off egg making for a woman who has unreliable or no monthly ovulation, that is when an egg is created and issued every month.

The correct term for this is ‘Ovulation Induction' which is sometimes all that is needed to get pregnant but more often this procedure will be applied together with In Vitro Fertilization or human artificial insemination such as Intrauterine Insemination.

Probably the most widely employed fertility drug these days, and the oldest, is Clomid or to give it the correct name Clomiphene Citrate. Taken as a pill, it tells your head that you are not producing enough estrogen, which indirectly induces your ovaries into making eggs.

Surgery used to be common when In Vitro Fertilization and Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection treatments were less advanced and available, but a procedure can still assist infertility in many situations. Frequently the fallopian tubes can get clogged or inflamed, possibly even scarred from infections such as Chlamydia, and this is where surgery can still be of use. Others include Fibroids, Endometriosis and different conditions affecting the womb or tubes. Fortunately, these days keyhole surgery is the norm and your physician at the fertility clinic will be the easiest person to direct you on possible courses of action.

When there's a fertilty problem, women should not only be the main suspect as it could very well be the fault of the male partner too. A male fertility test should be done early to rule out any doubts.

Drugs used for infertility are in general for women as they do not play such an fundamental role with men. Sometimes they may be prescribed for men under unique circumstances. These may include antibiotics to treat contagion or inflammation, and vitamins C and E (male fertility vitamins) to better sperm movement, although there is no credible evidence that this improves the chance of pregnancy. There are occasions where a man is unable to produce sperm or a vasectomy cannot be reversed, so a small operation can actually retrieve sperm from the testicles in a procedure called ‘surgical sperm retrieval'.

There is an increased chance of multiple births when employing fertility drugs which stimulate ovulation by artificial means. Many physicians will actually cancel a cycle if fertility drugs are being applied in addition to Intrauterine Insemination as it increases the likeliness of multiple births if a large number of egg sacks are developed. If you have In Vitro Fertilization, the chance of a multiple pregnancy is restricted by replacing one or two embryos.

Because of the complexity of this subject, this article is only able to give a very short overview of the drugs and surgical procedures available. Anyone looking at this course of action would be best advised to arrange a meeting at their local clinic for more advice on all the options available.