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High Tech Babies: Artificial Insemination

Can Artificial Insemination Help You Conceive?

By Kendeyl Johansen

Belinda Taylor, of West Jordan, Utah, wanted a baby to love. But her husband, Ken, had undergone a vasectomy, a surgical operation that causes sterility, years before their marriage. Ken had his vasectomy reversed but the couple still couldn't conceive, so they decided to give nature a boost and try artificial insemination.

"This procedure was a very rewarding process for us since we now have our son. It was a wonderful feeling when William was born and I was able to hold him and count his fingers and toes," Taylor says.

Artificial Insemination (AI), is a reproductive technology in which sperm is prepared, concentrated and placed directly in the uterus, the cervical canal, the ovarian follicle or the fallopian tube. Couples turn to AI after they are diagnosed with infertility (failure to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse) and they have unsuccessfully tried other fertility treatments. Single women using donor sperm also utilize AI.

Your physician can determine whether AI is right for you. This procedure isn't recommended if pregnancy is contraindicated or in cases of severe pelvic adhesions, damaged or blocked fallopian tubes or very abnormal sperm. Additionally, infertility combined with advanced maternal age sometimes prompts more aggressive infertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization (a reproductive technology in which an egg is removed from a woman and joined with a sperm in a test tube).

"Prior to starting artificial insemination the woman and her husband (or partner) should be sure they have cleared enough time in their schedules to insure their medical appointments can be accomplished without excessive strain," says Dr. Carl Herbert, co-director of the San Francisco Fertility Centers.

Couples begin their AI treatment with a detailed medical history and testing. For women, this includes x-ray studies of the uterine cavity and fallopian tubes, and men undergo a semen analysis to document adequate quality and number of sperm. After testing, women may decide to take medications to stimulate egg production. This comes with the knowledge that these medications increase the chances of multiple pregnancy.

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