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Fertility Topics Explained from the Experts at SFS
It is hard for me to believe that more than three decades have flown by since I first introduced intrauterine insemination into the clinical arena (Journal of Fertility & Sterility, April, 1984). At that time and for more than 2 decades thereafter, I held the strong belief that IUI would provide a less expensive, safe and equally successful alternative to IVF in cases where the woman had at least one patent Fallopian tube… How wrong I was! In my defense however, let me say that in the 1980’s and 90’s the reported National IVF success rate was under 15% while IVF success rates are now often 4 or even 5 times higher.
Today I believe that IUI is being over-used, is not nearly as beneficial as I once thought and that there are (often ignored) serious down-sides to its use. Here is one important example: Women who fail to ovulate or ovulate dysfunctionally, often respond to controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) by the releasing (ovulating) of several eggs at a time. Unless IVF is used, it is not possible to control/regulate the number of embryos reaching the uterus, therefore the risk of high-order multiple pregnancies (triplets or greater) is far greater with IUI. And, multiple pregnancies (especially triplets or greater) carry a very high maternal and neonatal risk. Here are a few of the misperceptions about the use of IUI:
Upon Honest Reflection: Unfortunately, too many physicians who should (and alas often do) know better, still liberally recommend IUI preferentially in cases of moderate or severe male infertility, older infertile women or those with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), cases of endometriosis or where there is clear evidence of an anatomical or immunologic implantation issue. Such women would be much better advised to go directly to IVF but find themselves attracted to what they erroneously consider to be a much lower cost alternative. Then there is the fact that many infertile patients, erroneously believing that IUI is less risky that IVF, provides an equivalent chance of success, and comes at a much lower price tag, put undue pressure on their physicians to first try the former several times before resorting to the latter. To make matters worse, many misguided insurance providers (purely for economic reasons) demand that their female clients who have at least 1 patent Fallopian tube, first undergo several unsuccessful attempts at IUI before becoming eligible for IVF. And they often take this position regardless of cast iron indications that IVF should be the primary treatment of choice. In summary, it is my opinion that IUI is presently an over-prescribed treatment. As such, we as physicians need to rethink the basis upon which we recommend IUI and educate our patients appropriately.
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