Infertility Overview

Infertility is a medically recognized disease that impairs the body's ability to conceive. The most common causes are low (or no) sperm counts in men and ovulation disorders, fibroids and pelvic inflammatory disease in women.¹

Infertility affects 6.1 million people in the United States, about 10 percent of the reproductive-age population, and affects men and women equally.¹ Approximately 20 percent of couples who have a complete work-up are diagnosed with unexplained infertility because no specific cause is identified.¹ Thirteen states currently have laws that require insurers to either cover or offer to cover some form of infertility diagnosis and treatment.²

How is Infertility Diagnosed?

Couples are generally advised to seek medical help if they are unable to achieve pregnancy after a year of unprotected intercourse. The doctor conducts a physical examination of both partners and interviews them about their sexual habits.¹

If no cause can be determined, more specific tests may be recommended. For women, these include an analysis of body temperature and ovulation, x-ray of the fallopian tubes and uterus, and laparoscopy. For men, tests focus on semen analysis.¹

What are the Treatments?

Most infertility cases (85 to 90 percent) are treated with medication or surgery. In vitro fertilization (IVF), an assisted reproductive technology (ART), is used approximately 5 percent of the time. For IVF, eggs are surgically removed from the ovary, mixed with sperm outside the body, and examined to see if they have become fertilized by the sperm. The fertilized eggs are then placed into the women's uterus.¹ Other ART procedures include gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), IVF with donor eggs, donor sperm, and donor embryos, and micromanipulation techniques such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).¹

Success Rates

Since 1981, when IVF was introduced in the U.S., more than 45,000 American babies have been born using IVF and over 70,000 babies were born using all ART procedures which include IVF, GIFT and ZIFT.¹

According to the most recent statistics (1998), the success rates (live births) per cycle of an ART procedure are as follows:³

¨ IVF - 29%
¨ GIFT - 28%
¨ ZIFT - 29.2%

For more information about Infertility, visit FerringFertility.com.

1. American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), Patient's Fact Sheet, Infertility, http://www.asrm.com, May 2001.
2. RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, Health Insurance Coverage of Infertility Treatment, http://www.resolve.org, June 2001.
3. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1998 Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates. Atlanta, GA; 2000.