Artificial insemination (IUI)

In the first 3 cycles of intrauterine insemination, 30% of women under age 40 are pregnant.

Intrauterine insemination is a simple and painless assisted procreation procedure.  Although the effectiveness is severely challenged after 3 or 4 failures.

It’s used when:

  • Infertility is unexplained, despite a fertility check-up.
  • Infertility is associated with minimal endometriosis with at least one permeable tube.
  • Mild or moderate male infertility is associated with a reduced sperm motility or concentration.
  • Infertility is attributable to the absence of sexual relations due to physical problems (erectile dysfunction, paraplegia).
  • Infertility is due to a cervical factor (surgery on the cervix).

Success rate during the first 3 cycles

  • 30
    women under 40 years old

The principle is relatively simple: simply deposit enough mobile sperm directly into the uterine cavity so they can pass into the fallopian tubes and fertilize the egg. The major advantage of IUI is that, since the sperm are already in the uterus, they do not have to get past the cervix to get to the tubes and hopefully fertilize the egg.

Even though the technique is less demanding than the other procedures, two parameters must be controlled:

  • The moment of insemination. Insemination must be carried out as close as possible to ovulation to optimize the chances of fertilization. Ovulation can be determined using either an ovulation home test to detect luteinizing hormone (LHu) levels in the urine, or ultrasound monitoring by Fertilys.
  • Sperm preparation. A semen sample must be produced by the partner on the same day as insemination. The semen will be centrifuged to remove any contaminants and the seminal fluid. We select the best sperm and ideally place over a million of them in the uterine cavity to increase the chances of pregnancy.