Are you and your partner trying to conceive but failed to do so? Are you single or same-sex couple who are looking to start your family? Here is good news for you. There are several treatment options available that may help you to get pregnant through proper medication or surgery. Research is being conducted and new practices will also be evolved in the coming days. For now, we are going to discuss some of the commonly used treatments that may help you to get pregnant.

What to Try First?

If you have been trying for a while to get pregnant naturally but couldn’t achieve pregnancy, here are a few things that you can do to get pregnant without any medication:

  • If you are a woman, try to conceive before you are 35.
  • Eat a healthy diet
  • Exercise regularly
  • Quit smoking
  • Consume less alcohol
  • Do not take too much stress
  • Try yoga and other stress burning activities.

Study shows that alternative therapies increase the chances of getting pregnant naturally.

If you have tried the above-mentioned activities but still couldn’t get pregnant, the very first step you should take is to see a doctor. Your doctor will consult you and ask what you have tried till now to get pregnant. Your physician may suggest you some best options, including:

  • Better time for intercourse (around the women’s ovulation period)
  • Suggest you to change any part of your lifestyle that are affecting your fertility ( such as smoking, using alcohol or drugs, being obese, or being exposed to harmful chemicals)
  • Drugs medications to fix the hormonal problem or stimulate ovulation
  • Surgery on your reproductive organs
  • Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR)

Fertility drugs – If you are a woman, your doctor may recommend fertility drugs. These drugs are made of human hormones (called gonadotropins) and are injected to stimulate ovulation. These drugs make your uterus allow an embryo to grow. Your doctor may also prescribe other drugs that are not made of human hormones (like Clomiphene citrate) to stimulate egg growth.

Fertility drugs are sometimes combined with the fertility medical procedure that we have discussed below, to increase the chances of pregnancy.

Medical procedure – When fertility drugs do not work alone, these medical procedures can be combined with fertility drugs on the recommendation of your doctor –

  • Surgery – Surgery may be suggested by your doctor in case your fallopian tube is blocked or damaged, or when eggs and sperm are needed to be used for infertility treatment, or in case reverse sterilization surgery (like a vasectomy or tubal ligation) is needed.
  • Intrauterine insemination (IUI) – Fertility drugs are also coordinated with Intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedures to treat infertility. A thin, long and flexible tube known as a catheter, is used to carry the sperm in a woman’s uterus through the vagina. When a woman takes fertility drugs before an IUI procedure, this stimulates the ovaries to produce one or more eggs. Then the sperm is put into the uterus with the help of a catheter for fertilization. This procedure can be performed with the sperm of a partner or anonymous donor (in case the male is infertile or when the female is single or has a same-sex partner).
  • In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) – IVF is a complex series of procedures that let fertilization happen outside the woman’s body. First, fertility drugs are used to stimulate the women’s ovaries to produce one or more eggs. Then the eggs are removed from her body by doing surgery. The eggs are contained in a laboratory culture dish and mixed with sperm for fertilization. Once the eggs are fertilized and form an embryo or embryos, 1 to 2 embryos are placed back to the woman’s uterus through a thin tube to achieve pregnancy.

Finding a fertility clinic – Canada has over 30 fertility clinics across the country. You can also find the list of fertility clinics in Calgary on several websites when you search online.

Not all clinics offer all fertility treatment options. If you decide to use a fertility clinic in Canada, here are some tips which help you to choose the best clinic for you:

  • If you and your doctor have determined which course to pursue to treat infertility, find out which clinic is specialized in that particular treatment.
  • Choose one that makes you feel at ease and the one that suits your needs.
  • Talk with the clinical expert and find out about the other available options, their risks, advantages and success rate
  • Ask for the step by step procedure of the fertility treatment option that you choose and the time and costs involved.
  • Ask questions to clear your doubts and make sure that you understand the treatment being offered to you and are comfortable with the procedure.

Stay as informed as you can before starting the treatment. Some questions that you should not miss to ask your healthcare provider, are:

  • Which medical treatments are recommended for me as per my situation?
  • What can be the possible risks of these procedures?
  • How much time and cost does the procedure involve?
  • Is any of these costs can be covered by my provincial Health Care plan, my employee benefits, or my private health insurance plan?
  • What if this procedure will not work, what would be the next step?

Key takeaway – People really want to have their own child but sometimes some people cannot get pregnant due to infertility either in themselves or in their partner. People who are experiencing infertility can use medical fertility treatment to get pregnant and can have their own child. They should visit the doctor and have a proper check-up. Based on their test report, the doctor will consult and suggest them the best fertility treatment for them. Choose a fertility clinic wisely after analysing all the aspects. Understand the process  and risks involved in the procedure.