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Methods to Get Pregnant

Several decades ago, when children asked their parents how babies were made, there was only one answer. These days, multiple responses exist. This is good news for the one in six of American couples who have trouble conceiving "the old-fashioned way." According to the Centers for Disease Control, tens of thousands of couples get pregnant via assisted reproductive technology (ART) each year.

  1. Understanding ART

    • The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines ART as "all fertility treatments in which both sperm and egg are handled." Under this narrow definition, only fertility treatments in which eggs are removed from a woman's body and combined with sperm in a laboratory constitute ART. However, in popular usage, ART has a broader meaning: It consists of any fertility treatment that involves getting pregnant with medical assistance, whether by using fertility drugs, artificial insemination or donor eggs/sperm.

    Intrauterine Insemination

    • Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is the process of injecting sperm into a woman's reproductive tract around the time of ovulation. Although it seems like a recent invention, the first record of the procedure dates back to 1884; the technique was perfected, however, in the 1980s. An IUI entails several steps: The male masturbates into a receptacle; the semen is sent to a laboratory where it is "washed," a process that eliminates certain chemicals and selects the strongest, most active sperm. After the washing, the sperm are put into a catheter and injected into the woman's uterus. The entire process takes about an hour. This method is used for men with low sperm counts and low motility. It is also a good option for women who are allergic to their partner's sperm, and women who want to have children without having intercourse with a male partner. Baby Center.com reports the success rate is between 5 percent and 15 percent, depending on the gravity of the couple's fertility problem.

    In Vitro Fertilization

    • In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most common ART procedure. In this process, an egg and sperm are placed in a laboratory dish in hopes the sperm will fertilize the egg. If fertilization occurs, the embryo is then transferred to the woman's uterus, where, hopefully, it will implant and develop into a fetus. The procedure was perfected in the mid-1970s, and the first IVF baby (then called a "test tube baby") was born in 1978. Since then, more than 3 million IVF babies have been born. IVF is an extremely invasive and challenging procedure, particularly since the woman must take hormone injections and her eggs must be surgically extracted. It is also very expensive, costing between $10,000 and $15,000 per cycle. However, the difficulties are often worth it for the thousands of infertile couples who have had no success with any other method. According to the American Pregnancy Association, success rates range from 25 percent to 35 percent for women under age 40.

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