subject: Medical alternatives of IVF [print this page] Medical alternatives of IVF Medical alternatives of IVF
There are a lot of couples that have problems conceiving in the natural way. Luckily there are nowadays a lot of options to help these couples to get pregnant. Besides the medical options there are a lot of alternative options to overcome your infertility issues. In this article we will discuss the medical options.
The most prominent option people know is IVF. IVF stands for In Vitro Fertilization. In the IVF procedure the sperm and eggs will be brought together outside the body of the female. Fertility drugs may be given as well to the female. In this way several eggs may mature in the same time. The eggs will be removed from the ovaries. There are techniques to do this. Laparoscopy is a technique to get the eggs out via a little incision in the navel. The second technique is Transvaginally. In this case the eggs will be taken out via the vagina.
As soon as the eggs are collected from the female body they will be brought together with the seed of the male in a test tube or dish. After monitoring the eggs for a couple of days the eggs will be checked if they are fertilized. If the eggs are indeed fertilized it will be placed back in the uterus of the female.
The next option we will discuss is called GIFT which stands for Gamete Inter Fallopian Transfer. GIFT is actually very similar to IVF except for one big difference. With IVF the fertilization takes place outside the body of the female while with GIFT the fertilization takes place in the fallopian tubes. There are people that favor this method over IVF because it feels more natural to them. However, women with tubal blocks are usually not advised to use this procedure.
Another option that is closely related to IVF and GIFT is known as ZIFT. ZIFT stands for Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer. With this technique the fertilization takes place outside of the body like with IVF. However the eggs will be placed back in the fallopian tubes as with the GIFT technique instead of the Uterus like in the IVF technique.
The last method that is closely related to the above mentioned techniques is TET. TET stands for Tubal Embryo Transfer. The TET technique is almost identical to ZIFT. The difference is that with the TET technique the fertilized eggs are placed back in the female body at a later stage then with ZIFT.
Fertility drugs may be used with the IVF related techniques but it can also be used as an option on its own. Fertility drugs are often the first thing to look at starting a treatment. These drugs stimulate hormones to produce eggs that will be released from the ovaries on a monthly base.
Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a technique that has been used before all the IVF related techniques. And still nowadays it does the trick for a lot of couples. With this technique a catheter will be used to place seed in the uterus during the ovulation. The idea is to get the seed closer to the egg and at the precise moment of the month. This technique can be used in case of a natural cycle or a cycle that has been created by using fertility drugs.
The last method we will discuss is Tubal Reversal Surgery (TRS). Blocked or cut tubes are the primary reason that IVF is used, so TRS may be used as an alternative to IVF. Sometimes it is possible to re-connect the tubes. A successful reversal can restore fertility through sexual intercourse or artificial insemination.
As you can see there are many different techniques to help a couple to get pregnant and to realize their dream. In this article we just discussed the medical techniques in our next article we will show you the available alternative techniques. It is important to discuss with your doctor which techniques fit the best to your circumstances as every situation can be different and different techniques are favorable.
