Fertility Treatment

IUI, or intra-uterine insemination, is typically the first option chosen for couples who are first experiencing infertility issues, but have not entered advanced maternity age.  This non-invasive process replicates the performing of actual intercourse, in which the man’s semen is first collected, prepared and is then injected directly into the uterus during ovulation.

IUI is suitable for patients who have tried and failed to conceive naturally over the period of 1 year, for men who experience pre-mature ejaculation or are impotent and for women with potential ovulation issues or irregular periods.

IUI is unsuitable for women that are of advanced maternity age, along with women diagnosed with (fallopian) tube blockage, ovarian failure and/or severe endometriosis.

IVF, or in-vitro fertilization, is the process of fertilization where a female patient’s egg is combined with the male patient’s sperm outside of the body, or in vitro (“in glass”).  Similarly to IUI, the female patient must first take prescribed hormone medications to stimulate the production of additional eggs for typically a period of at least 10 days.  Once the Doctor deems the patient’s eggs to be ready, the eggs will then be collected at our center and fertilized post-collection.

To aid in increasing fertilization rates, modern IVF treatments also take advantage of ICSI, or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, an advanced form of IVF in which one single sperm is injected directly into a mature egg using miniature glass needles.

Once fertilization occurs, our lab will then culture the embryos for 5 days, allowing the embryo to reach the optimal stage of development (a “blastocyst”), at which point the patient can choose to implant the embryo immediately (called a “fresh embryo transfer”), or freeze the embryos for transferring at a later date.