IUI stands for Intra Uterine Insemination. It is one of the basic methods of artificial fertilisation meant for the couples who fail to conceive despite unprotected and regular intercourse over a year. IUI is recommended for those having poor quality of the partner’s sperm, immunological factors of infertility, and the irregular ovulation.

However, IUI is an insemination technique where a sperm sample is inserted directly into the uterus during the ovulation. It means sperm are directly delivered to the eggs. Thus, sperm overcomes the adverse effects of the vaginal as well as the uterine suppository environment and also shorten the time of meeting the eggs. The sperm can be collected from the partner or from a donor. The consulting surgeon takes a call here based on the quality of the partner’s sperm and also a prior consultation with the couples undergoing the treatment.

Sperm of the partner or that of a donor are processed at an andrology laboratory and an adequate number of the best quality sperm are collected to prepare a sperm sample. It is then applied directly to the uterus with the help of a long and thin catheter (a flexible tube) measuring 1.8 mm. An SPG (Spermogram) test is conducted on the sperm present in the sperm sample ahead of the IUI. Fresh sperms of the partner are mostly used here.

However, the frozen sperm of a donor can also be used for the purpose. At the same time, hormonal stimulation of the female partner is done with the aim of maturing 1 to 2 follicles that leads to a pregnancy. The stimulation of the female partner potentially increases the chance of a pregnancy. The best part here is that IUI is a completely safe and painless process that gets completed fast. The average time taken to complete the entire process can be 2 hours and ladies willing to become a mother can get pregnant within a month.

Key areas of IUI: No side effects

• No Side Effects
  IUI doesn’t have any known side effect till today. You can, therefore, undergo this treatment without any ambiguity and the fear of not being able to repeat the process for conceiving. But, the female partner aged below 35 years should ideally opt this technique for an instant success here.
• Fast resolution
  A successful treatment here may require just two appointments. Each appointment time may stretch up to 2 hours on an average. This, in other words, construes that adoption of the IUI with the purpose of conceiving can be as good as watching a movie at the weekend. The best part here is that there is no waiting list in most of the hospitals around the world.
• Legal and anonymous
  Whichever country you choose to go for the IUI, there are laws that govern the artificial insemination. Thankfully, the process is 100% legalised everywhere and the couples undergoing the treatment remain anonymous.
• High success rate
  IUI works fine even under the conditions like hostile cervical condition including the cervical mucus, ejaculation dysfunction, cervical scars that hinder sperm’ reach to the uterus, and unexplained infertility.It is important to mention here that a couple should ideally opt for IUI treatment after a thorough check on their ovulation as well the partner’s sperm quality, for instance. Else, the couple may be required to repeat the process for several times for a success here. However, there is no sacrosanct practice of IUI. Some hospitals and clinics offer to conduct IUI at the shortest time by conducting all relevant checks in the first appointment stretched up to two hours at the most.