Intrauterine Insemination

IUI can improve the chance of conception by up to 20 percent per cycle.

DR. MILLER: With intrauterine insemination or IUI, washed sperm, or sperm that has been removed from the seminal [phonetic] plasma is placed through the cervix, at the top of the uterus via a very thin catheter at the time of ovulation. This is often coupled with stimulation of the ovaries to develop more eggs than the one that the woman would normally be ovulating, and thus increase the chanced for pregnancy. The indications for IUI include male factor infertility when there is an abnormally low concentration or percentage of progressively motile normally shaped sperm. As well as cervical factor infertility when the cervical mucus is too thick to allow normal sperm to get into the mucus and therefore the cervix. Intrauterine insemination, if none of these factors exists is probably 10 or 15% more accurate and more successful than regular intercourse when coupled with stimulation of the ovaries, which is often called controlled ovarian hyper stimulation, pregnancy rates can exceed 20% per cycle depending upon the age of the woman whose ovaries are being stimulated.