Questions

Yes, I am posting twice today, but I had several people quizzed me on what is Infertility, IUI and IVF. I found some resources on the internet that describes infertility, IUI, and IVF. I hope this information will answer many questions that are being asked. You can click the source link at the end of each section to read more detailed information.

What is Infertility? Yes, it is a medication condition

Infertility is a condition of the reproductive system that impairs the conception of children. It affects approximately 6.1 million individuals throughout the United States. The diagnosis of infertility is usually given to couples who have been attempting to conceive for at least 1 year without success.

Conception and pregnancy are complicated processes that depend upon many factors:

1) the production of healthy sperm by the man,
2) healthy eggs produced by the woman;
3) unblocked fallopian tubes that allow the sperm to reach the egg;
4) the sperm's ability to fertilize the egg when they meet;
5) the ability of the fertilized egg (embryo) to become implanted in the woman's uterus; and
6) sufficient embryo quality.

Finally, for the pregnancy to continue to full term, the embryo must be healthy and the woman's hormonal environment adequate for its development. When just one of these factors is impaired, infertility can result.

Read more: http://www.americanpregnancy.org/infertility/whatisinfertility.html

IVF vs IUI (Artificial Insemination)

IVF or in vitro fertilization is a process where the female egg or ova is taken outside the womb. There on fertilization of the eggs are initiated in a fluid medium with the sperm cells. As fertilization comes to an end, the fertilized egg or the zygote is introduced back into the female uterus looking forward to a successful anchorage of the zygote and commencing of a pregnancy. The process of fertilization is entirely carried outside the body, in vitro. When the conventional reproductive technologies fail, in vitro fertilization tends to come in handy giving birth to test tube babies. On the other hand IUI or intrauterine insemination is a process by which the sperm cells are artificially deposited in the female uterus. In case of IUI the sperm cells are first carefully prepared through sperm washing. Then only the good sperm cells are collected and introduced in the cervix with the use of a catheter.

Though IVF is a popular process of reproductive technology, but these days often couples tend to go for intrauterine insemination which is a lot less expensive and invasive as well. In IUI it is just a catheter that is inserted into the woman‘s cervix and is a quick and easy process causing a lot less pain. On the contrary IVF is much more invasive and painful. Another advantage with IUI is that it is not as costly as in vitro fertilization. Every cycle of IVF costs as much as $15,000 while that of IUI costs just $500.

IVF is a process that comes in useful when for some reason the eggs and the sperm cells are not able to fertilize biologically. For that reason they are removed and allowed to fertilize outside the ovaries in a fluid medium. But IUI is particularly suggested when the element of male infertility hinders pregnancy. In such cases the sperm cells are weak and cannot travel the entire way for fertilization. Hence they are artificially inserted into the cervix to diminish the distance that the sperm cells have to travel.

Summary:

1.  IVF stands for In vitro Fertilization while IUI stands for Intra-uterine Insemination.
2. In IVF both the sperm and egg cells are removed from the body and allowed to fertilize in vitro in a fluid medium. In IUI the sperm cells are artificially inserted into the female cervix using a catheter.
3. IUI is a lot less invasive and painful than IVF.
4. A cycle of IVF costs as much as $15,000 while that of IUI is costs lot lesser, just $500.

Read more: Difference Between IVF and IUI | Difference Between | IVF vs IUI http://www.differencebetween.net/science/health/difference-between-ivf-and-iui/