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Once you start considering doing a fertility treatment, the acronyms and different treatment options will start piling up. It's hard enough dealing with the fact that you might not be able to conceive naturally, and on top of that trying to find your way in the maze that fertility treatments can seem to be. We've put together a very compressed and quick guide of a few of the terms that will be thrown at you.

IUI (intrauterine insemination)

IUI is a treatment that gives the sperm the best chance of success. The man's sperm sample is treated to gather the strongest sperm, which then is inserted through a tube through the cervix and directly into the uterus and therefore closer to the site of fertilisation. It might not seem like much, but the result is more sperm entering the uterus and saving themselves a few centimetres of travel.

This insemination has to be done during a woman's most fertile days and coincide with ovulation. It is often a process that is done over two to three days.

This treatment is often used when women have deficient cervical mucus, an ovulatory dysfunction or endometriosis, but also when men may suffer from unknown infertility.
The IUI can be done following a woman's natural cycle or by having that cycle enhanced by a hormone treatment. The chances of success are about 18% per cycle when combined with small doses of fertility drugs.

D.I. (donor insemination)

The IUI treatment can also be done with donor sperm. When donor sperm is inserted into the cervix it is referred as D.I. (donor insemination) and when inserted into the uterus, as IUID (intrauterine insemination using donor sperm). There is no Irish legislation regarding donor insemination, and clinics will often import frozen sperm from other countries. The physical characteristics of the donor will be matched as closely as possible to the partner.

IVF (in vitro fertilisation)

Sometimes, the infertility is caused by issues the system of reproduction and not the egg or sperm itself. It could be issues such as blocked, damaged or absent fallopian tubes.

With this treatment fertilisation of an egg takes place outside the body. Sperm and eggs are gathered and mixed, once the egg is fertilised it is implanted into the uterus after three days and will hopefully implant itself into the uterine wall.

There is no Irish law limiting the number of embryos that can be implanted at the one time, but the norm is one to three embryos, depending on your age. You can also choose to only have one egg implanted, which is something you should talk to your fertility consultant. If your embryos are considered of poor quality, thus unlikely to develop, you might be advised to have several implanted.

This treatment takes time over several weeks and even months. Firstly the woman's body will be prepared with hormones, often taken through a nose spray, to promote the development of as many eggs as possible. The woman will also have to take daily injections, to optimise the hormone levels for the implanting of the embryo.

This process can be time consuming and sudden, as the hormones will be monitored and ultrasound scans done to access the uterus.

Blastocyst transfer

Blastocyst is the human embryo 5-6 days after fertilisation and the actual stage for implantation into the uterine wall. The treatment is identical to that of IVF, except that there is a slight delay of the implantation of the embryo. This treatment will be used if previous IVF has not worked, due to arrested development of the embryo when implanted at day three.

ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection)

This treatment could almost be considered as “forced fertilisation”, as one sperm is injected directly into the centre of the egg. Then, as with IVF, the embryo is implanted into the uterus. It is a treatment used when the sperm quality is poor and low as very few sperm are required.

GIFT (gamete intra-fallopian transfer)

As with IVF the woman’s eggs are collected and mixed with the sperm, but are bot transferred at once into the fallopian tubes. It is done by laparoscopy surgery, through an incision in the abdomen, or through the cervix. This way the egg is fertilised somewhat naturally, as it is not fertilised before the transplant. As both egg and sperm are transplanted, fertilisation will happen in the natural environment and the egg will hopefully develop, move and implant itself in the uterus.

ZIFT (zygote intra-fallopian transfer)

The only difference between the GIFT and ZIFT treatment is that in the latter case the egg is fertilised before the transplant. The egg and sperm are injected into the fallopian tube and second, the two are allowed to fertilize outside the body and injected into the fallopian tube as soon as the zygote stage is reached.

Egg donation
If the infertility issue is with the eggs, then using a donor egg paired with your partner’s sperm may be a viable option for you and your partner. As with sperm donation, healthy eggs are donated by often anonymous donors abroad and matched accordingly to the recipient. In-vitro fertilization techniques are used to implant the fertilized egg into the uterus. While your and the donor's identity is confidential, all parties names are by law held by the clinics.