Basics of fertility treatments: What are your questions?
With the fantastic addition of AmyK to our WEGO Health team, my Health Activism has been broadened with the addition of the WEGO Health Infertility community. I am excited to jump in as the community leader and learn about a condition I've not had a lot of experience with just yet. However, as a women's health Health Activist, I wonder why I never learned more than the basics on my own. It's about time, eh?
A few weeks ago I wrote A Health Activist Asks: What is infertility?, then I looked at Risk factors for infertility and shortly thereafter I jumped into the reproductive drama circle with How fertile is too fertile? Health Activists talk infertility.Today I'd like to take a basic look at the treatment options for couples living with infertility, join me in learning!
There are four main types of infertility treatments and rather than go into detail with each one right now, I'll cover the basics and delve into them in further blog entries and Infertility group discussions. In most cases, infertility is treated with medications or surgery. Artificial insemination and assisted reproductive technology (ART) are also options for couples who don't react well to the more common types of treatments.
How does a doctor recommend one of these four specific treatments? A physician will look at a handful of issues before recommending a specific infertility treatment including (but not limited to!) the pereference of the partners, the overall health of the partners, the age of the man and woman (remember age is a clear factor in infertility issues), general medical test results as well as looking at how long the couple has been trying to get pregnant.
Medicine for infertility is one of the most often used treatments. Women have quite a few medicines available for infertility use which work to cause ovulation, stimulate ovulation or regulate ovulation. (More to come on women's fertility medications!) Medication for infertility comes into play with men's sexual issues (impotence or premature ejaculation for example). Sometimes antidepressants and/or anti-anxiety medications will work to ease premature ejaculation and we've all seen the erectile dysfunction commercials on our televisions. Infections of the body can affect sperm counts in men and antibiotics are used to treat conditions such as those.
Surgery for infertility arises for a man if sperm is being blocked from exiting the penis; doctors can surgically remove sperm directly from the male reproductive tract. If the Vas deferens is blocked, kinked or otherwise blocked, surgery is an option. Women also have surgical options for conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, uterine fibroids or endometriosis.
Artificial/intrauterine insemination (IUI) for infertility is a procedure in which a woman is "injected" with specially prepared sperm from her partner. IUI is used to treat a mild male infertility issue, women who have "hostile" cervical mucus or with couples who have "unexplained" infertility.
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) for infertility is a process by which both male sperm and a woman's eggs are removed from the bodies and then combined to create an embryo. That embryo (those embryos) are then re-implanted into the woman in hopes of pregnancy.
Coming soon: more details about each of these infertility treatments. What treatments do you know the most about? Have you heard about all of these main treatments? Do you know of other treatments I haven't listed? What have you seen in your communities about the benefits and risks of these treatments?
Read More:
Endometriosis: the silent life sentence - a fantastic blog written by a really great Health Activist; EndoChick
Me, Myself and Endometriosis - a letter written to endometriosis from a woman who lives with the condition
Learn about uterine fibroids
Tags: fertility, fertility treatments, infertility, infertility treatments, pregnancy, women's health
Add a Comment
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Comment by sukh on November 4, 2009 at 5:35pm - Most definitely Sarah :)
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Comment by Sarah on November 3, 2009 at 7:43pm - sukh, I'm sorry to hear that you know women in that position - I do, too. I think I'm going to tackle the idea of insurance coverage in a future post and would love to have your opinion on that when it comes up. Be thinking about whether it should be covered fully or not! : )
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Comment by sukh on November 3, 2009 at 6:57pm
- Very good information you posted above. Unfortunately I know women who have unsuccesfully tried for years now and they cant even afford TREATMENT. The Succesful treatments are basically out of the question for them.
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Comment by Sarah on November 3, 2009 at 3:50pm
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Finally_a_Mom, thanks for the positive comment. It has to be frustrating for women to not have resources available for fertility education when they need it. Are you signed up for the WEGO Health Webinar When to See a Reproductive Endocrinologist: 7 Key Factors, with Glenn Schattman, MD, Cornell University. It's short notice (if you're not already attending) but there are quite a few time slots still open. Even though I assume (from your user-name) that you're a mom, if you're at all interested in infertility education, this is going to be a great webinar.
As more resources and education opportunities arise, I'll be posting them as blogs and discussions, so I hope to see you around!
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Comment by Finally_a_Mom on November 3, 2009 at 3:46pm - I do not think the resources are available until a woman sees an RE and learns more about them. Or for those of us that do research online prior to seeing an RE. Good info you listed above. It should helps those that are unaware of treatments.
© 2009 Created by Marie
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