Assisted Reproduction

This is the name given to a set of techniques used to enable or contribute to the union of the egg (oocyte) and the spermatozoon in the laboratory when this cannot be achieved in natural ways due to different kinds of disorders.

Very often, eggs and sperm cannot meet spontaneously within the woman's body. For instance, this occurs in cases of bilateral tube occlusion (infections or adhesions in fallopian tubes), in patients that experienced ectopic pregnancies (in the fallopian tubes) or in some mild or severe endometriosis cases that may cause a distortion in the tube-ovary relationship, or tubal adhesions that impair the natural union of the gametes, etc. In other cases, the union cannot be achieved because the semen presents serious problems. In order to form the embryo you need a minimum degree of sperm concentration and motility, and below these levels the embryo will not form. There are also cases of unexplained infertility in which inseminations have failed and specialists must turn to high-tech techniques. Today, there are mainly three high-tech techniques: In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT), and Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). The decision about which technique should be used in each particular case is strictly medical and does not depend on the patients’ choice. Each couple will require a certain technique and the three of them have practically the same results.