Artificial Insemination (AI):
Places sperm directly in the cervix (called intracervical insemination). Artificial Insemination is useful for women who have structural problems, when the cervical mucus is unreceptive, when donor sperm are required, when the male partner's semen contains very low numbers of sperm, or when unexplained infertility exists in both partners.

In order to prepare for AI, a woman usually takes Fertility drugs in advance. The man must produce sperm at the time the woman is ovulating. The sperm are then "washed", using high-tech laboratory procedures and are then inserted into the uterine cavity through a long, thin catheter. To reduce the risk of multiple births, the amount of the drug and the response to it is carefully monitored with several ultrasounds and blood tests for estrogen levels.

Blastocyst Transfer:
This is a procedure that allows a longer time for the embryo to develop in the laboratory (five days instead of two to three). This enables the embryo to reach the Blastocyst stage, which is the natural embryonic stage for implantation in the uterus.

Many couples undergoing In Vitro Fertilization accept the risk of multiple gestation as an integral part of the treatment process. They want to maximize their chances of achieving a pregnancy and will transfer three or more embryos to achieve their goal. After all, the chance of taking home a baby is not 100%, and the cost of an IVF cycle can be quite significant. Sometimes, the financial resources of a particular couple may only allow them to undergo an IVF cycle once in their lifetime. The end result of transferring 3 or more embryos has been a significant increase in the rate of triplet and higher order multiple pregnancies. There are enormous medical, social, and financial consequences of this increase in multiple birth rate.

One solution to this problem may be to culture the embryos for 5 or 6 days, to the blastocyst stage. Embryos developing to the blastocyst stage (blastocysts), have a higher implantation rate than embryos grown only three days, and are more likely to succeed in initiating a pregnancy. As result, only two blastocysts need to be transferred to have the same pregnancy rate usually seen when 3 or more embryos that have been grown for only 2 or 3 days are transferred into the uterus. In other words, fewer embryos are needed to achieve the same or higher pregnancy rate, resulting in a lower incidence of multiple gestation.

Embryo Cryopreservation:
In cases where more eggs develop into embryos than are going to be transferred to the patient, the couple will have the option of cryopreservation, or freezing, of the embryos for transfer into the woman's uterus at a later date. Cryopreservation is used to minimize the risk of multiple births, which increases dramatically if more than four or five embryos are replaced. Once embryos are frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored, viability will remain unchanged for long periods. With current freezing and storage methods, 60 to 80 percent of embryos will be viable after thawing. One of the advantages of embryo cryopreservation is that transfer of the thawed embryo may occur in a natural ovulatory cycle.

Endometriosis:
Uterine lining tissue found outside the uterus, often inside the peritoneal cavity on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, bowels and bladder. It is a leading cause of infertility by affecting nearly all aspects of reproduction. Treatments include laser surgery, medical management, microsurgery.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
is a highly sophisticated technique for injecting one single sperm into an egg using microscopic and micromanipulation instruments. In men with low sperm count, low motility or a high number of abnormal sperm, this technique has proven to be a highly successful remedy. Combined with IVF or ZIFT, the procedure of ICSI is able to achieve a high rate of fertilization and normal embryo development. ICSI has even been successful in cases where sperm must be taken directly from the testes (testicular biopsy) due to the absence of sperm in the ejaculate or a previous vasectomy. ICSI is also the best choice when other andrology tests identify a possible problem with sperm function.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI):
Involves placement of sperm following separation from seminal fluid into uterine cavity.

Ovulation Induction:
Patients are treated with medications that cause the ovary to produce multiple mature eggs. It is used in conditions such as Polycystic ovaries (a hormonal imbalance resulting in lack of ovulation, irregular periods and infertility).

Uterine Fibroids:
Overgrowth of muscle fibers in the uterine wall that may interfere with reproduction or normal sexual relations. Treatments are usually surgical.