Ovulation induction is often one of the first treatments recommended to individuals and couples with fertility issues.
This form of treatment uses fertility medications to induce ovulation and stimulate the development of egg production in women who have had difficulty conceiving.
ovulation 101
Ovulating women typically produce one mature egg every 28 days. After this egg releases from the ovary, it travels into the Fallopian tube for fertilization. With ovulation induction medication, the number of oocytes can be increased.
Ovulation induction treatment is recommended for:
+ women with unexplained infertility
+ women with long, irregular or infrequent cycles
+ women who are not ovulating
+ couples with no male factor infertility
+ women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
+ women with hormonal problems
the basics
Each patient responds differently to ovulation induction, which means that a balance must be struck between increasing the number of eggs to improve the chance of pregnancy while not producing too many to create ovarian hyper stimulation.
Our patients are monitored closely with bloodwork and ultrasounds during ovulation induction to ensure medication dosing and response are appropriate.
To achieve pregnancy, ovulation induction must be followed by a fertility treatment technique that facilitates the sperm-egg union. This is most commonly achieved through intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
There are several oral and injectable medications that are used to stimulate the ovaries to assist with the ovulation process or to produce more than one egg during a fertility cycle.
These are called ovulation induction medications or "fertility drugs" - which stimulate the ovaries to release one or more mature eggs and increase the chance of pregnancy.
Because each medication has a different mechanism of action, they can be taken alone or in combination with each other.
The decision to prescribe one medication over another will depend on a woman’s menstrual history and what type of cycle our fertility experts have planned.
types of medications
- oral medications such as Clomid and Letrozole will either induce egg production in patients who are not ovulating or in some cases induce multiple egg production when it is desirable to do so.
- injectable medications that contain Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing hormone (LH) - which are hormones that stimulate follicle production in the ovaries - may be used to induce ovulation in patients who:
+ are resistant or unresponsive to oral medication
+ who have attempted oral medications without success
+ require extra egg production.
