Photo by Kelly Sikkema
Going to a fertility clinic doesn’t automatically mean you’re signing yourself up for IVF. In fact, the best fertility clinics treat each patient individually and will do their best to get patients pregnant with the least invasive technique possible.
If you’ve been having trouble getting pregnant (meaning you’ve tried for a one year if you’re under 35 or six months if over 35) then it is time to seek the help of a professional clinic. We’ll be able to make sure you are ovulating regularly and check your ovarian reserve. And we’ll be able to do a semen analysis on your partner.
While we are nationally recognized for our high success rates with IVF, we are also very skilled at less expensive methods. Our goal is always to get our patients pregnant with a healthy, viable baby in a way that’s right for you.
So once we’ve established you’re ovulating and your partner’s sperm is active we have a few tricks up our sleeve.
Natural Cycles or ‘Timed Intercourse’: We can help you determine when you are ovulating and send you home to do the job on your own. We recommend an ovulation kit so you can find the right time and date and sometimes this is all our patients need to become pregnant.
Natural Monitored Cycles: You and your partner are basically doing it on your own with an ovulation kit and we add in an ultrasound to make sure ovulation occurred and perform a progesterone blood test after ovulation. Some of our patients have irregular cycles or skip months of ovulation due to PCOS or other conditions. This technique is helpful for women who do ovulate consistently.
Medicated Cycles: If we discover that a patient does have trouble ovulating then we can do an Ovulation Induction with medication. These are prescription oral pills followed by a series of in-office ultrasounds so that we can monitor closely when ovulation occurs. Then, we can either send the patient home to do the deed or we can do an IUI.
IUI: Intrauterine Insemination is a medical procedure where the sperm is washed and injected directly into the uterus timed correctly for ovulation. IUIs can be done with partner sperm or donor sperm.
We ‘wash’ the sperm so concentrated, healthy sperm reach the uterus just before ovulation and swim into the fallopian tubes to hopefully meet and fertilize one lucky egg. Washing sperm results in a much cleaner and more concentrated sample with most of the non-motile sperm and other fluids removed.
Also, we may recommend two sperm injections per IUI cycle for increased odds of success.
We are very skilled at IUIs and have excellent lab resources on-site. Fresh or frozen (then thawed) sperm can be used. So even if your partner is overseas, a planned IUI can work.
Medicated IUI Cycles: Stimulating the female patient to ovulate with oral tablets and injections, then using IUI with concentrated, healthy sperm injections twice during monitored ovulation can be highly successful. We offer packages of IUIs where you pay for two cycles and receive a third cycle free if needed. One of our IUI packages allows money spent on IUIs to go towards IVF if the IUIs are unsuccessful. This allows couples to try IUIs first before stepping up to IVF.
If a patient is suffering from PCOS, endometriosis or diminished ovarian reserve these enhanced IUI techniques may be all that’s needed to produce a healthy baby. And a medicated IUI package is substantially less expensive than IVF.
Every patient is different, and some patients find success with a combination of these techniques. IUI may not work on the first try but may work perfectly on the second or third attempt. We offer IUI Peace of Mind® packages where you pay a reduced rate for two and receive a third free if needed. If a technique does not work in three tries, we suggest trying something different.
Because women only ovulate once a month, time is of the essence when addressing infertility. A patient only has 12 chances per year. And an unsuccessful pregnancy or a miscarriage can take up precious months in your fertility window — in addition to the emotional toll. So if your dream is building a family, please don’t delay getting the professional help you need.
We are confident we can get you or your partner pregnant with a healthy baby with the least invasive method possible. We’ve been helping patients become parents for over 27 years and we love using new technology to uncover the best method for each of our unique patients. Make 2021 the year you take control of your fertility and come see us.
