Trying to Conceive (cont.)
Drugs and Surgery
Different treatments for infertility are recommended
depending on what the problem is. About 90 percent of cases are treated with
drugs or surgery. Various fertility drugs may be used for women with ovulation
problems. It is important to talk with your doctor about the drug to be used.
You should understand the drug's benefits and side effects. Depending on the
type of fertility drug and the dosage of the drug used, multiple births (such as
twins) can occur in some women. If needed, surgery can be done to repair damage
to a woman's ovaries, fallopian tubes, or uterus. Sometimes a man has an
infertility problem that can be corrected by surgery.
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
Assisted reproductive technology (ART)
uses special methods to help infertile couples, and involves handling both the
woman's eggs and the man's sperm. Success rates vary and depend on many factors.
But ART has made it possible for many couples to have children that otherwise
would not have been conceived. ART can be expensive and time-consuming. Many
health insurance companies do not provide coverage for infertility or provide
only limited coverage. Check your health insurance contract carefully to learn
about what is covered. Also, some states have laws for infertility insurance
coverage. Some of these include Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Hawaii,
Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Texas, and West Virginia.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of ART that is often used when a woman's
fallopian tubes are blocked or when a man has low sperm counts. A drug is used
to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs. Once mature, the eggs are
removed and placed in a culture dish with the man's sperm for fertilization.
After about 40 hours, the eggs are examined to see if they have become
fertilized by the sperm and are dividing into cells. These fertilized eggs
(embryos) are then placed in the woman's uterus, thus bypassing the fallopian
tubes. Gamete intrafallopian transfer(GIFT)
is similar to IVF, but used when
the woman has at least one normal fallopian tube. Three to five eggs are placed
in the fallopian tube, along with the man's sperm, for fertilization inside the
woman's body. Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), also called tubal embryo
transfer, combines IVF and GIFT. The eggs retrieved from the woman's ovaries are
fertilized in the lab and placed in the fallopian tubes rather than the uterus.
ART sometimes involves the use of donor eggs (eggs from another woman) or
previously frozen embryos. Donor eggs may be used if a woman has impaired
ovaries or has a genetic disease that
could be passed on to her baby. And if a woman does not have any eggs, or her
eggs are not of a good enough quality to produce a pregnancy, she and her
partner might want to consider surrogacy. A surrogate is a woman who agrees to
become pregnant using the man's sperm and her own egg. The child will be
genetically related to the surrogate and the male
partner, but the surrogate will give the baby to the couple at birth.
A gestational carrier might be an option for women who do not have a uterus,
from having had a hysterectomy, but still have their ovaries, or for women who
shouldn't become pregnant because of a serious health problem. In this case, the
woman's eggs are fertilized by the man's sperm and the embryo is placed inside
the carrier's uterus. In this case, the carrier will not be related to the baby,
and will give the baby to the parents at birth.
Next: Counseling and support groups »
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