By Chioma
Umeha
When
you and your partner talk to a doctor about getting help for infertility, he
may suggest a technique called “artificial insemination.” It’s a simple
procedure with few side effects, and it can help some couples who haven’t been
able to get pregnant.
In
artificial insemination, a doctor inserts sperm directly into a woman’s cervix,
fallopian tubes, or uterus. The most common method is called “intrauterine
insemination (IUI),” when a doctor places the sperm in the uterus.
Why
is this helpful? It makes the trip shorter for the sperm and gets around any
obstructions. Your doctor may suggest this method first as a treatment for
infertility.
What
Type of Infertility Can Artificial Insemination Treat?
The
procedure can be used for many kinds of fertility problems. In cases involving
male infertility, it’s often used when there’s a very low sperm count or when
sperm aren’t strong enough to swim through the cervix and up into the fallopian
tubes.
When
the issue is female infertility, it’s sometimes done if you have a condition
called endometriosis or you have anything that’s abnormal in your reproductive
organs.
This
method might also be right for you if you have something called an “unreceptive
cervical mucus.” That means the mucus that surrounds the cervix prevents sperm
from getting into your uterus and fallopian tubes. Artificial insemination lets
the sperm skip the cervical mucus entirely.
Doctors
also often suggest artificial insemination when they can’t figure out the
reason a couple is infertile.
What
to expect during the procedure
Your
doctor will use ovulation kits, ultrasound, or blood tests to make sure you’re
ovulating when you get artificial insemination. Then, your partner will need to
provide a sample of his semen. The doctor will suggest that your partner avoid
sex for two to five days before the procedure to help make sure his sperm count
is high.
If
you live close to the clinic, your partner may be able to collect a semen
sample at home. If not, he’ll do this in a private room. The reason it helps if
you live close to the doctor’s office is that the sperm must be “washed” in a
laboratory within one hour of ejaculation.
The
process of “washing” the sperm in a lab removes chemicals in the semen that may
cause discomfort for a woman, and raises the chances of getting pregnant.
Technicians liquefy the sperm at room temperature for 30 minutes and add a
harmless chemical to separate out the most active sperm. They use a centrifuge
to collect the best sperm.
Those
are placed in a thin tube called a catheter and put through your vagina and
cervix into the uterus.
Artificial
insemination is short and relatively painless. Many women describe it as
similar to a Pap smear. You may have cramping during the procedure and light
bleeding afterward. Your doctor will probably have you lie down for about 15 to
45 minutes to give the sperm a chance to get to work. After that, you can get
back to your usual activities.
In
some cases, before you have the procedure, your doctor will place you on
fertility drugs, such as clomiphene citrate (Clomid). This helps your body
ovulate multiple eggs.
