What's intrauterine insemination (IUI)?

Intrauterine Insemination is often an important part of treatment for couples who are infertile because of sperm disorders. IUI involves injecting sperm through a narrow catheter into the wife's reproductive tract. For most couples, artificial insemination is performed with the husband's sperm. Depending on the husband's sperm count and motility, the wife's cervical mucus quality at the fertile time of her cycle, and the estimated time to egg release from the ovarian follicle, a well timed-IUI can be very effective. In a laboratory, the sperm can be separated from the seminal fluid and resuspended in a very small volume of sterile medium that will keep the sperm alive and actively mobile. Often, preparation involves a "swim-up" procedure, in which only the fastest swimmers are selected for insemination. The insemination is performed by passing a sterile catheter through the cervical canal into the uterine cavity and then injecting the sperm suspension into the uterine cavity. Usually the insemination itself causes little, if any, discomfort.

By placing sperm directly into the uterus via a catheter, intrauterine insemination bypasses cervical mucus that may be hostile to the sperm, placing them close to the fallopian tubes where fertilization occurs. IUI is often successful in overcoming sperm count and movement problems, retrograde ejaculation, immunologic infertility and other causes of infertility.

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is the placing of sperm into a woman's uterus when she is ovulating. This procedure is used for couples with unexplained infertility, minimal male factor infertility, and women with cervical mucus problems. IUI is often done in conjunction with ovulation-stimulating drugs. IUI can be performed using the husband's sperm or donor sperm. Before IUI, the woman should be evaluated for any hormonal imbalance, infection or any structural problems.