IUI Success Rates

Posted On: November 9, 2013
Categories: Treatments
Tags: IUI | success rates

What is IUI?

Intra-Uterine Insemination (IUI), also known as artificial insemination, is a common method of infertility treatment that places sperm directly into a woman’s uterus. In the United States, IUI success rates are high, making this advanced procedure a good choice for many couples.

When is IUI Successfully Used?

There are a number of fertility treatments that are available to infertile couples looking to become pregnant. Each is useful in different situations, and couples can find higher success rates with IUI if one of these factors is present:

Low sperm count
Decreased ability of sperm to reach an egg
Ejaculatory dysfunction or retrograde ejaculation
Donor sperm needed
Antisperm antibodies
Cervical conditions that are hostile toward sperm
Irregular or poor ovulation

Because of its relatively low cost and high success rates, artificial insemination is a popular treatment when infertility is unexplained.

The Effect of Medications on IUI Success

IUI success rates are often higher when used in conjunction with fertility drugs (such as clomiphene citrate, or injectable gonadotropins). While some women with normal ovulation cycles may omit this step, pregnancy results are higher when used in conjunction with IUI, as these medications help induce ovulation, by stimulating the ovaries to produce for than one follicle per month.

This higher production increases the number of eggs exposed to sperm, but IUI success still requires an individual sperm to reach and fertilize an egg under its own power.

A woman’s age and health, along with the health of sperm, are the main factors in an IUI cycle’s success rate. Women younger than 35 typically have more success – nearing 20% for an IUI cycle. Overall, any given cycle of IUI results in a viable pregnancy for about 10-20% of women.

This puts the IUI success rate within reach of the average fertile, trying couple, who have about a 20% chance of pregnancy during a given cycle. With medication to boost fertility, even women age 38-39 often have a viable pregnancy within two cycles.

The core Intra-uterine Insemination procedure is brief and causes minimal discomfort. If patients do not experience immediate success, multiple cycles are common and lead to a national IUI success rate that approaches 85%.