Assisted Reproduction

There are a number of different medications that can aid fertility. Most are by prescription only, so talk to your doctor for more information beyond what we provide here.

Click on the links below for information on commonly prescribed fertility medications:

www.resolve.org/family-building-options/fertility-medicines.html

www.bodyandhealth.canada.com/channel_section_details.asp?text_id=4186&channel_id=2048&relation_id=36906

Unless you have no sperm at all in your semen, a condition known as azoospermia, no one can tell you for certain that you will never be able to father a child without medical assistance. So you and your partner may decide to continue trying to conceive on your own. Some things have been identified as being associated with lower sperm counts (e.g., smoking marijuana and cigarettes; excessive alcohol use; hot tub usage; exposure to some environmental toxins). It may be worth cutting down on, or limiting your use of or exposure to these substances and situations, if you’re trying to father a child.

Depending on the age of your female partner, and certainly if you have been diagnosed with azoospermia, you may want to seek specialized assessment and treatment at a fertility clinic.The treatments for male factor fertility problems, from least to most invasive include:

·   Superovulation and intrauterine insemination (IUI). For this treatment, your partner takes medication to stimulate and enhance the development of her eggs, and then your sperm, having been prepared in the laboratory, is inserted directly into her uterus using a small catheter.

·   In vitro fertilization (IVF) where your partner’s eggs are fertilized with your sperm in a laboratory, and one or two the resulting embryos are transferred to your partner’s uterus.

·   Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may be used as an adjunct to IVF, if there are significant problems with count, shape/quality (morphology) or movement (motility) of your sperm. With ICSI the laboratory specialists are able to take a single sperm and inject it directly into each of the eggs that have been retrieved from your partner’s ovaries – to facilitate fertilization.

Read more about these procedures here. 

Read more about male infertility here. 

Donor Sperm

If none of these options results in a viable pregnancy, you and your partner may consider using donor sperm. Donor sperm can be purchased through a fertility clinic from an anonymous donor selected through a sperm bank. Anonymous donors undergo medical screening and provide a fairly detailed social and health history. Some also provide pictures. There are two types of anonymous donors: a) anonymous and b) open ID donors. Open ID donors differ from completely anonymous donors in that they agree to have their identifying and medical details released to the potential child after the age of 18, if the child decides that s/he wants or needs this information.

Some, but not all fertility clinics offer the option of using sperm from a donor who is known to you (e.g., a friend or family member who has agreed to donate his sperm). In Canada, the sperm from a known donor must go through a six-month quarantine and screening process to ensure that there is no transmission risk of HIV infection. Consequently, there is a significant waiting period involved with this option. Click here to read our question on known sperm donation.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine has put together a patient fact sheet on the risks of IVF. See this information here.

There is a helpful resource on Fertility Treatment Options including IVF here. 

RESOLVE has a helpful page on IVF and assisted reproductive technologies here.

RESOLVE has posted some useful information on common fertility drugs here.