For most of the people, the first treatment that comes to mind when they think of fertility care is in vitro fertilization. One such treatment is intrauterine insemination or IUI.

IUI treatment is most often recommended for couples with unexplained fertility, male factor infertility- such as low sperm count or poor sperm motility- or for those using donor sperm.

Overall the procedure is simple and can be broken down into three main steps:

• Ovulation is tracked to identify fertile period
• Semen is collected and washed
• Sperm is inserted directly into the uterus

Advantages of IUI

IUI has two main advantages over other types of fertility treatments. This procedure is

• Less invasive
• Less expensive

The reason being, eggs don’t need to be removed from the body, the process is far less invasive for the partner that will be carrying the pregnancy. Also, this procedure costs less than IVF since no egg extraction or laboratory monitoring is required. For these reasons, when appropriate, IUI is a recommended procedure to try when first beginning fertility treatments.

Disadvantages of IUI

Though IUI can work as a great option for some people, it doesn’t address several facility challenges. For IUI to be effective, the partner carrying the pregnancy needs to be ovulating and have clear and undamaged fallopian tubes, and the sperm used has to have a certain level of motility.

Whether you need IUI, semen analysis, IVF, or a combination of treatments, the fertility experts at NU Fertility@NU Hospitals, known to be one of the best hospitals for IUI in Bangalore, will advise you on the best treatments for your journey to parenthood.