IUI is an effective fertility treatment for patients wanting to grow their family

The doctors at our Tennessee fertility center often find that IUI is an incredibly effective way to help patients conceive. Intrauterine insemination involves washing and preparing the sperm before placing them into the uterus through the vagina. This treatment helps bypass many fertility challenges and frequently results in a healthy pregnancy.

Who needs IUI?

Each patient comes to our Tennessee fertility center seeking this treatment for a different reason. However, here are some of the most common reasons patients may need IUI.

• The female patient has poor cervical mucus.
• Either the female or the male partner has antisperm antibodies.
• Lesbian couples and single women may want to conceive using donor sperm.
• The male patient has excessively high or low sperm counts, or low sperm motility.

Our skilled doctors work with patients to make the right fertility diagnosis and then determine whether intrauterine insemination is right for them.

What to expect from an intrauterine insemination cycle

When patients decide to move forward with IUI, they go through a series of simple steps to help them conceive and welcome a baby.

• Find the ideal timing. The female patient will monitor her cycle with an at-home urine-LH test kit or ultrasounds at our office to determine when she is most likely to ovulate.
• Sperm preparation. The male patient or the sperm donor will provide a semen sample. In our lab, an andrologist will perform a sperm wash to remove the seminal plasma from the sperm. This concentrates the sperm into a small volume for insemination.
• Insemination. The final step of IUI consists of the female patient coming to our office for the insemination when she is ovulating. This is a simple procedure that involves the fertility doctor using a catheter (a thin, flexible tube) to insert the sperm into the uterus. The woman remains on the exam table for 15 minutes before resuming normal activity.

Two weeks later, the female patient will take a pregnancy test to determine whether the procedure was a success.

Treatment success rates

The success rates of intrauterine insemination depend on the cause of infertility, the female partner’s age and the predictability of her ovulation cycles. In addition, numerous factors can decrease the chances of pregnancy using this treatment.

• The female patient is over 35.
• Our doctors find excessively low sperm count and/or motility in the man.
• The woman has endometriosis or a history of pelvic infection or tubal disease.

Generally, when the female patient undergoes insemination, the chance of conceiving is about 10% for cycles that do not include ovulation induction medications. It is about 20% for ovulation induction cycles.

The compassionate team at our Tennessee fertility center can help you find the treatment options to help you take home a healthy baby. Contact us for more information about fertility treatments.