Assisted Reproductive Technology

Some women fail to get pregnant in a natural way. Most of such women might have heard about the process of Assisted Reproductive Technologies. These technologies are meant to help such women who cannot get pregnant through natural means and require some complete or partial artificial means to get pregnant. Also, the use of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) may also be applied in cases where there are some genetic disorders. ART is a very wide term and it also includes the process of surrogacy and other reproductive methods that include a third person in the progress of pregnancy. Sometimes sperm donors or ovum donors are also termed as third person.

Various medical investigations and tests are performed in order to clear out the exact reason of the infertility in a couple. Only when the results of these investigation suggests a confirmed reason behind infertility, doctors try to remove that reason artificially and try to help the couple to conceive a child through artificial means. The three cases of infertility are, either the husband or wife has some particular infertility defects. There are many defects in the husband or the wife and the third case is neither wife nor husband has any defect. The third case is unique and it is known as unexplained infertility.

As per the situation, requirement and free consent of the couple suffering from infertility, one of the various possible ART procedures are applied on the couple. Some of the common procedures are Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), In Vitro Fertilization or Embroy Transfer (IVF-ET) and Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT). ICSI process includes the injection of a sperm into an egg with the help of a fine needle under a microscope. IVF-ET is the process to help people suffering from endometriosis, tubal disease, immunological factors, uterine problems etc. In the case of GIFT, the washed sperm of the male and the washed eggs of female are placed in the fallopian tube of the woman by using a catheter.

Artificial Reproductive Technologies are very beneficial in cases of people suffering from infertility yet, these procedures include several risks. In general, Doctors not only inform about these risks, they also explain all the degrees of risks to the patient couples in advance. Some of the common complications of ART are preterm birth, ectopic pregnancy, impulsive abortion, multiple gestation and Ovarian Hyper-stimulation Syndrome. Even the child as a result of Artificial Reproductive Technologies may face various complications after the birth. That is why, both of the partners of a couple are required to affirm their free consent before the doctors may try to help the infertile couple through the processes of Artificial Reproductive Technologies.