Marcus
Tai Clinic International Hospital
Chief Scientist, Top Scientist in the Field of Reproduction
Dr. Marcus is the Chief Scientist and Top Scientist in the Field of Reproduction at the Sino-Israeli Collaboration PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL HOSPITAL, and his book Minimal Stimulation and Natural Cycle In Vitro Fertilization has become a global clinical learning textbook for assisted reproductive medicine.
One click and you're going to get pregnant!
There are many people who only know about IVF and artificial insemination, but don't know what the difference is! Dr. Mei Dong takes you to see the difference between IVF and artificial insemination (IUI).
About IUI?
IUI, or intrauterine insemination (IUI), is a fertility technique that collects semen from a husband or donor, hatches directly or by processing, and injects it into the female reproductive tract. It can be implemented during a woman's natural menstrual cycle or during a cycle with low-dose ovulation-inducing drugs. This method can increase the chances of normal sperm reaching the site of fertilization, thereby increasing a woman's chances of conceiving.
According to different insemination sites, artificial insemination is divided into intravaginal insemination (IVI), intrauterical insemination (ICI), intrauterine insemination (IUI) and intrasal fallopian insemination (IFI). However, the most clinically used is intrauterine insemination (IUI). Compared with IVF, IUI's technology is simpler, safer, and less expensive, with pregnancy rates of 8% to 15% in ovulation induction cycles.
About IVF?
In vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET), also known as "IVF-ET", refers to a technique in which eggs and sperm are taken from the human body and fertilized in vitro, developed into embryos, and then transferred back to the mother's womb for the purpose of conception.
Compared to IUI, IVF increases the process of egg retrieval and fertilization in the laboratory and is technically more complex. Egg retrieval needs to be done surgically under anesthesia. Also, the IVF cycle requires more follicles than the IUI. This means that we need to use more drugs in ivf cycles to promote ovulation so that follicles that should have died in the natural cycle mature synchronously. More complex medical procedures lead to higher medical costs, but with them higher pregnancy rates.
The pregnancy rate for a single IVF treatment is about 40 to 50%, or even higher. It should be noted that these are only approximate numbers, and they depend heavily on the cause of infertility and the age of the woman. Not only the increase in success rate, but also the many technical means derived from IVF, including intracytoplasmic sperm microinjection (ICSI), preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and preimplantation genetic screening (PGS), can solve more infertility problems and meet more demands of expectant parents.
Choose IUI or IVF?
While IUI and IVF are the most commonly used methods of treating infertility, they have many significant differences.
complexity
Intrauterine Fertilization (IUI): When an infertile woman reaches ovulation time, the prepared sperm is placed directly in her uterus to aid fertilization. IUI can be performed synchronously with the natural cycle of women, and can also be performed synchronously with fertility drugs, the process is relatively simple;
Ivory Tube (IVF): A cycle consists of several stages, first in the ovarian stimulation phase will use a series of fertility drugs, after the follicle matures to retrieve the egg, and then in the laboratory to culture the egg for fertilization, and finally put the fertilized egg or embryo back into the uterus, the process is relatively complex.
Risk
One of the more obvious risks of intrauterine fertilization (IUI) is multiple pregnancies, including high multiples (triplets or more). A good clinic will carefully monitor your follicles to make sure there is only one mature egg, but not completely eliminate the risk.
Using IVF techniques, only one or two embryos are now transferred per IVF cycle. As a result, IVF patients have a much lower risk of multiple pregnancies than in the past.
Success
Because there are so many variables that affect a single case, it's not easy to determine the success rate of a treatment regimen, but statistically speaking, the success rate of IUI is lower than that of IVF, and this gap widens as women age.
Time
When you're weighing these two options, the time factor goes both ways. The process of IUI is much shorter than IVF, so if your first cycle is successful, it may be the fastest route to bring your child home. However, due to the gap in success rates between the two treatments, some patients in their 30s to early 40s may opt for IVF directly.
cost
The cost of an IUI cycle is much lower than an IVF cycle, which is a serious consideration for many patients. However, depending on your diagnosis and your chances of conceiving through IUI, it is more cost-effective to go directly into an IVF cycle than to deal with multiple failed IUI cycles before finally performing IVF.
In general, the timing of choosing IUI or IVF, or IUI switching to IVF, is a comprehensive consideration of the age of the intended parents, the number of years of infertility, whether there are clear factors that are unfavorable to pregnancy, and financial ability. Try to get a higher pregnancy rate at a lower cost in a shorter period of time.