Infertility is a problem that has been increasing over the years due to various factors such as delayed childbearing for professional reasons, stress, pollution, pesticides, radiation, drug use….
This, in turn, has made assisted reproduction one of the most avant-garde branches of medicine and one of the most advanced in recent years.
The main key is to make a correct diagnosis of both members of the same and thus offer our patients the most appropriate treatment for their case. This is why at CREA we have excelled in the analysis of the male factor, so often forgotten despite the fact that it is responsible for a large number of infertility cases and those of mixed causes.
Nowadays, a couple that after a year of regular sexual intercourse has not achieved gestation, should consult a specialist to find out the possible cause. Once the diagnosis has been made, the simplest effective treatment is indicated, which in the mildest cases will not require the use of Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART). In cases where it is necessary, the appropriate ART will be applied, which will become more complex the more altered the couple’s gametes (eggs and sperm) are.
Assisted reproduction treatments
Intrauterine Artificial Insemination:
After controlled stimulation of the ovaries, sperm are prepared in the laboratory and introduced into the uterus at the time of ovulation. It can be with spermatozoa from the couple or from an anonymous donor if necessary.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF):
After stimulation of the ovaries to obtain a greater number of eggs to give a better chance of achieving gestation, the eggs are extracted and inseminated in the laboratory with sperm from your partner or a donor. At 72 hours post-fertilization, the embryos are transferred to the uterus and/or vitrified for further attempts.
Sperm Microinjection (ICSI):
It is a complementary process to IVF and consists of the introduction of a previously selected spermatozoon inside the egg. It is performed in cases of low sperm count and/or sperm quality, previous failure of fertilization and in certain cases of low oocyte quality.
Embryo vitrification:
Consists of cryopreservation of embryos that are not transferred to the uterus. This allows us to use them in the future, either for a second gestation, or in a second attempt when the first one has failed, thus avoiding having to perform the treatment from the beginning, since we already have the embryos.
Oocyte vitrification:
It consists of the cryopreservation of the oocytes in cases in which the patient must postpone motherhood due to major causes. It is used as a means to preserve fertility in cases of cancer, prior to chemotherapy treatment. Also for cases in which the woman does not want to give up motherhood but due to personal circumstances cannot make it a reality at that moment, and takes the opportunity to vitrify her eggs when they are young and therefore of better quality and with greater potential for implantation.
Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD):
In cases where the parents are carriers of a genetic disease, it is performed to identify and select embryos that are not carriers of the disease, preventing it from being transmitted to the offspring. In cases of repeated miscarriages, advanced maternal age or a history that recommends it, PGD screening for aneuploidy for 24 chromosomes is indicated.
ROPA (Reception of Eggs from the Couple):
This is performed in cases of lesbian couples in which both wish to participate in the common reproductive project of having their children. One of them provides the eggs that are fertilized with donor sperm; and the embryos obtained are transferred to the uterus of her partner.
Egg donation program:
For patients who, due to ovarian problems, cannot become pregnant with their own eggs and must resort to eggs donated by healthy and young women, who, complying with all the requirements indicated by the Law, are previously analyzed and carefully controlled from the medical point of view.
Sperm donation program:
For cases in which the partner’s semen cannot be used, as well as in the case of women alone or without a male partner. Donors are previously screened in compliance with all the requirements of the Law.
Andrology Department
Complete analysis of the male factor to make a correct diagnosis prior to AR treatment. Treatments range from pharmacological therapy to testicular sperm aspiration, selection of sperm with intact DNA, treatment of varicocele and prostatitis, as well as surgery in cases of previous vasectomy.