Assisted Reproductive Technologies

What is infertility?

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy after a year of unprotected sex. The causes may relate to production of the sperm or eggs, function of the male or female reproductive systems, other health issues or be unexplainable.

About one in six Australian couples of reproductive age experience fertility problems.

How can infertility be treated?

Many couples suffering infertility problems can be successfully treated with lifestyle changes or medical intervention. With the trend towards having children later in life, one in seven women over 37 years use assisted reproductive technologies to help them achieve a pregnancy.

ART procedures include:

• In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) – an egg (or eggs) is retrieved from the woman and combined with sperm outside the body to achieve fertilisation. The resulting embryo is transferred back into the uterus.
• Frozen embryo transfer (FET) – is where a frozen embryo from a previous IVF cycle is thawed and transferred back into the uterus.
• Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – often used in cases of male-factor infertility, a single sperm is injected into each egg to assist fertilisation.
• Blastocyst transfer - an embryo that has been cultured to the blastocyst stage (around 100-150 cells or five to six days after fertilisation) is transferred to the uterus.

ART procedures sometimes involve the use of donor eggs, sperm or embryos. The success rate varies considerably between fertility clinics and depends on a number of factors, including the woman’s age and cause of infertility.

*You may wish to seek fertility assistance if you have been trying to conceive for 12 months, or after six months if you are over the age of 35.