Female Infertility

Question 1

What are possible causes of female infertility?

Answer 1

• problems with ovulation when viable eggs are not made
• blocked oviducts that prevent egg and sperm from meeting
• problems with the uterus (e.g. fibroids) which can prevent the implantation of a blastocyst

Question 2

What are fibroids?

Answer 2

• lumps that develop from the myometrium which can prevent the implantation of a blastocysts
• and subsequently, infertility

Question 3

What are the categories that female fertility treatments can be grouped into?

Answer 3

• fertility drugs
• surgical treatment
• assisted conception

Question 4

How do fertility drugs generally work?

Answer 4

• by causing the release of hormones that either trigger or regulate ovulation

Question 5

What kind of surgical treatments can be used to treat female infertility?

Answer 5

• unblocking the fallopian tubes
• removing fibroids
• clearing up endometriosis

Question 6

What is endometriosis?

Answer 6

• a disease in which tissue that normally grows inside the uterus grows outside the uterus

Question 7

What are the different techniques used in assisted conception?

Answer 7

• artificial insemination
• in vitro fertilisation (IVF)
• gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT)
• intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICPI)
• surrogacy

Question 8

When is artificial insemination typically used?

Answer 8

• if a man is unable to produce viable sperm

Question 9

How does artificial insemination work?

Answer 9

• semen from a donor is inserted into the woman’s vagina at the time she is ovulating

Question 10

When is in vitro fertilisation (IVF) typically used?

Answer 10

• if a woman is unable to produce viable eggs

Question 11

How does IVF work?

Answer 11

• eggs are removed from the egg donor and fertilised by sperm from the woman’s partner, outside the body
• the fertilised eggs are then placed in the uterus of the woman and left to implant in the endometrium