What are the possible treatment options for female infertility?

There are several common causes of infertility problems in women. For example, some of them are the following:

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Most women with PCOS are young and do not ovulate properly. In these cases, the use of an ovulation inducer such as clomiphene could be sufficient to achieve gestation. In these situations it would be necessary to perform ultrasound controls and sexual relations directed around the moment of ovulation. If there is no response to clomiphene, artificial insemination (AI) could be chosen. Low doses of daily subcutaneous FSH and ultrasound controls are used to montior follicular growth. When mono or bifollicular development is obtained, ovulation is induced with HCG and AI is performed with a seminal sample previously capacitated in the laboratory. The last option is IVF-ICSI.

Endometriosis

IVF-ICSI cycles are an effective option for achieving gestation. It is necessary to know that the oocytes of these patients are of poorer quality due to the disease and that the puncture in patients with endometriomas is more complex due to the risk of puncture/rupture of the endometrioma during the puncture. In case of failure of IVF-ICSI cycles, it is possible to opt for donor eggs with success rates as good as those of women without endometriosis.

Tubal obstruction

due to previous pelvic infections may present a tubal dilatation (hydrosalpinx). The treatment in these cases would be the realization of a laparoscopy for resection of both tubes, followed by a cycle of IVF-ICSI. Surgery prevents the intratubal fluid that dilates the tubes from affecting the embryo and significantly reduces gestation rates.

Low ovarian reserve

may be related to age or to some factor that has caused a reduction of ovarian tissue (for example previous surgeries). Women with low ovarian reserve can choose to use their own eggs or perform a cycle with donor eggs. If they wish to have treatment with their own eggs, they should be aware that in each stimulation they will probably obtain a reduced number of eggs and it will be necessary to resort to several cycles to obtain a sufficient number of oocytes for IVF-ICSI.

Advanced age

these women usually have a low ovarian reserve because the number of follicles has decreased and a low oocyte quality due to the age of these eggs. The indicated reproductive treatment for these women would be egg donation.

It has been studied that women of advanced age have very low gestation rates due to the oocyte quality that generates genetically altered embryos. However, carrying out cycles with donor oocytes achieves gestation rates that are similar to the gestation rate that would correspond to the age of the egg, and not the recipient woman.