Induced ovulation and/or Intrauterine insemination (IUI)
This treatment is only recommended for patients with at least one fallopian tube is patent and semen analysis is normal or close to normal.
It involves ovarian stimulation with clomiphane citrate and/or follicle stimulating hormone (FSH or human menopausal gonadotropin). The response to these medications is monitored by ultrasound. Ovulation is triggered by 5,000 IU of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) when not more than four ovarian follicles reach at least 1.6 cm diameter. The semen sample is prepared and is then inseminated into the uterine cavity 24-36 hours later.
Many couples have the same question: Can we use frozen sperm instead of fresh sperm if husband is busy on the day of IUI? Using frozen sperm for IUI is not ideal. The success rate of IUI highly depends on the total number of progressive motile sperm. Motility of sperm reduce from 70% to 20% after freeze-thaw process, which greatly reduce the success rate of IUI. Study suggested that the success rate of using fresh sperm for IUI is three times higher than using frozen sperm, therefore using frozen sperm for IUI is not recommended.
Occasionally intravaginal or intracervical insemination is performed when IUI is not technically possible or acceptable by the couple.
Insemination may have to be abandoned when more than four mature ovarian follicles are present.
In some cases, couples may request to have insemination without prior ovarian stimulation or to have ovarian stimulation only followed by natural coitus.
