ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

Artificial insemination is a possibility for childless couples affected by fertility problems to achieve pregnancy.

For this purpose, assisted reproductive technology (ART) is used to support the sperm and egg cells on their way to each other.

There are different methods that take into account different fertility disorders.

There are three methods used in artificial insemination. Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). All methods, with the exception of semen transfer, take place outside of the female body.

For this reason, sperm and egg cells must first be removed from the body in a previous step and processed accordingly.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

In the IUI, the sperm cells are first prepared and then transferred directly into the uterus. This procedure is used when the partner has too few, and not enough motile sperm. Although the woman has to undergo a prior hormone treatment for this procedure, it is less stressful than other ART methods.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

IVF is a time-consuming process. First, the woman has to undergo hormone treatment. This is followed by egg cell retrieval and mixing with the partner's sperm in the test tube. If fertilization occurs and the fertilized egg cells continue to develop, the embryo is being transferred back to the uterus. Since not every embryo implants itself in the uterus (live birth rate is 15-20 percent), several embryos are transferred. Because of this, nearly 20 percent of treatments result in multiple pregnancies.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is used when previous reproductive techniques such as IUI and IVF fail to fertilize the egg due to the quality of the sperm. The difference to the other methods is that the sperm cell is injected directly into the egg cell. With this procedure, too, the woman has to undergo hormone treatment beforehand. After the sperm cell is injected directly into the egg cell and fertilization and cell division occurs, the embryos are transferred to the woman's uterus.

Individual factors always decide which procedure is used in ART.