Understanding Your Fertility Treatment Options
Facing fertility challenges may leave you feeling discouraged, but at NRM, you have a number of fertility treatment options available. If you are considering seeking fertility treatment, you may find this review helpful to gain a basic understanding of options prior to your first appointment.
Initial Options
To minimize the chance of side effects and complications, it is often best to choose the simplest option that will be effective for you. Some of the minimally-invasive fertility treatment options available include:
Fertility Medications
Fertility medications work best for women who either have no period or have irregular periods. They may also be used as an initial treatment in cases of undiagnosed infertility. Although oral medication is typically used first, some patients may benefit more from injectable medications.
The purpose of these medications is to stimulate and support ovulation. Your doctor will track your progress via transvaginal ultrasound and may prescribe additional medications based on what he or she sees during this test.
Intrauterine Insemination
Intrauterine insemination, or IUI, is often used when the male has low sperm counts, when a single woman is attempting to conceive or when a couple is using donor sperm. During this procedure, the doctor deposits washed sperm directly into the uterus at the time of ovulation. This procedure may be used on its own in coordination with your own natural cycle, or it may be using in combination with fertility medications.
Advanced Fertility Treatment Options 
In-Vitro Fertilization
In-vitro fertilization is utilized in cases where other treatments have been unsuccessful or traditional fertilization is known to be difficult due to problems with the female’s fallopian tubes, problems with male’s sperm or a history of vasectomy. In-vitro fertilization may also be used when donor eggs, frozen eggs or a gestational carrier is involved.
During in-vitro fertilization, the egg and the sperm are combined in a dish and allowed to develop for a few days. The embryo is then transferred into the uterus for implantation.
Other Services
Several other optional services are also available to patients working with a fertility clinic. Some of these optional services include:
Gender Selection
Pre-implantation Genetic Screening
Fertility Preservation
We are here to help! If you are interested in learning more about any of these treatment options, please contact Northeastern Reproductive Medicine to schedule an appointment. You may also sign up for our free fertility seminar if you want to learn more!
