Female Fertility Treatments

During the female fertility treatment phase, if no ovulation occurs, this would indicate no pregnancy can take place. In this event, a woman's ovaries can nearly always be encouraged to produce good quality eggs by using fertility drugs.

In the past, these drug treatments, like clomid, nearly always produced a multiple pregnancy. However, following much research and usage, there is much more known about correct dosages and therefore treatment is very carefully controlled and monitored, when addressing female fertility.

Drug treatments

• Clomiphene (Clomid). This is the most common fertility drug, normally taken for five days at the beginning of each menstrual cycle. Clomiphne stimulates the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) by the pituitary gland. This acts on the ovaries and stimulates ovulation. The advantages of this particular drug is that it is free from major side effects and has a low multiple pregnancy rate. Metformin may be prescribed as an alternative drug therapy.
• Clomiphene-resistant PCOS. For those suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and there are no signs of ovulation after several months of treatment, then a course of FSH by injection, may be prescribed. Success is quite high with an expected ovulation rate of about 95 per cent per cycle, and pregnancy rates of as much as 25 per cent, normally after three cycles.
• Pulsatile GnRH. "Hypothalamic" infertility with amenorrhoea is a rare cause of infertility resulting from the absence of a hormone called gonadotrophin releasing factor (GnRH), which is made in part of the brain called the hypothalamus. Women who are deficient in GnRH can be treated with hormone replacements. Ovulation rates as high as 75 per cent can pregnancy rates up to 15 per cent can be expected.
• Bromocriptine. If a woman has high levels of the hormone prolactin in her blood, normal GnRH pulses may be suppressed, so she does not ovulate and cannot conceive. This is the best treatment for this condition. It suppresses prolactin production so the ovaries work properly. Expected ovulation is as high as 75 per cent.

In many cases this may be all that is required - drug therapy. While drug treatments are used extensively during female fertility treatments, they are normally also used in conjunction with, or supported by a medical procedure.

These may be of a minor or major nature - to correct a physical problem or to aid infertility.

Surgical procedures

• Microsurgical techniques, involving laparoscopy, have greatly improved doctors ability to repair any damage to the fallopian tubes.
• Tuboplasty. Scarred and narrowed fallopian tubes can be unblocked by an operation known as tuboplasty. A small balloon tipped catheter is inserted into the blocked fallopian tube. The balloon is the inflated to open the damaged tube and create a passage for fertilised eggs to pass through, to reach the uterus.
• Fimbrioplasty. Sometimes the frond-like ends of the fallopian tube - known as the fimbriae - fuse together, blocking the opening of the tube and preventing eggs from entering from the ovary. Microsurgical techniques allow the blocked end of the tube to be peeled back and opened, giving free access for eggs again.
• Reversal of sterilization. This procedure is an increasing part of the treatment of infertility. If the severed sections of the fallopian tubes are rejoined, the woman has a good chance of achieving a normal pregnancy - rates are as high as 92 per cent - but this does depend on the expertise of the surgeon performing the procedure. Sterilization in which the tubes have been clamped with clips has the highest chance of successful reversal.

The treatment options described above are of a medical nature and will be part of the plan of care, devised by your physician, depending on your situation, health and age.

Clomid infertility treatments and ovulation fertility, are crucial for female fertility and this will be carefully monitored as part of and during the female infertility treatment program.

There are numerous options for treating male and female infertility.

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