Reproductive medicine | Specialists and information

What is reproductive medicine?

Reproductive medicine is a medical specialty that deals with natural reproduction and the detection and treatment of reproductive disorders, also known as fertility disorders.

Reproductive medicine specialists focus on assisted reproduction, eliminating the causes of infertility and thus bringing about a pregnancy.

What qualifications do fertility specialists have?

If family planning comes up against obstacles, there may be various causes in the man or woman.

Modern medicine has therefore developed procedures for diagnosing fertility disorders and assisted or artificial insemination in order to help couples fulfill their long-held desire to have children. At clinics, fertility centers and specialized practices, the underlying causes are first carefully clarified. A suitable treatment is then selected, for example

• hormone therapy,
• In vitro fertilization,
• insemination (intrauterine insemination) or
• intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI).

Which specialists are fertility specialists?

Reproductive medicine is an interdisciplinary field that includes gynecology, andrology ("men's medicine"), urology and genetics.

Fertility specialists are usually specialists in gynecology and obstetrics with a focus on gynecological endocrinology and reproductive medicine. Reproductive medicine specialists have completed appropriate further training for this.

Based on the type and number of prescribed examinations and therapies, fertility specialists gain extensive experience in the detection and treatment of various dysfunctions and diseases in

• gender-specific endocrine, neuroendocrine and fertility-related areas as well as on
• malformations of the internal genitalia during puberty, adolescence and the reproductive phase.

Reproductive physicians, for example, must have at least 100 assisted fertilization methods including procedures such as

• hormonal stimulation,
• insemination (intrauterine insemination),
• in vitro fertilization (IVF) and
• intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

have been performed.

How is a fertility disorder diagnosed and investigated?

The diagnostic process begins with a medical history and clarification of the question of whether sterility or a fertility disorder is actually present. Reproductive physicians only speak of infertility if no pregnancy occurs after two years of regular sexual intercourse without contraception.

As the causes of infertility are equally common in men and women, but can also be found in both partners at the same time, both partners are examined as part of fertility diagnostics:

In men , for example, a spermiogram with functional tests is carried out to detect any disorders in the formation and function of the sperm.
For women , several diagnostic procedures are used:

• determination of the hormone status
• Ultrasound examinations (e.g. hysterocontrast scalpingography)
• endoscopic procedures (such as chromopertubation)

This allows the most common causes of involuntary childlessness or sterility, namely

• Ovulation disorders,
• blockage of the fallopian tube and
• endometriosis

can be diagnosed.

In addition to physical reasons for involuntary childlessness, there are also psychological causes such as erectile dysfunction in men or frigidity in women, which can be clarified by taking a medical history.

What procedures are used in reproductive medicine?

The causes of an unfulfilled desire to have children are manifold, so that various procedures are used in clinics or a fertility center. In some cases, the mere administration of hormones during stimulation treatment can, for example, stimulate egg maturation or trigger ovulation and thus induce pregnancy.

However, there are also situations in which more or less complex procedures are used as part of artificial insemination (eggs and sperm are brought together outside the body) or assisted fertilization (eggs and sperm are brought together inside the body).

Important fertility treatment procedures are

• Insemination: Here, the sperm cells suitable for fertilization are introduced into the woman's genital tract, usually into the uterus (intrauterine insemination).
• In vitro fertilization (IVF): Eggs and sperm, which have previously been removed from the woman and the man and tested for their suitability, are brought together in a "test tube", where the cells either fuse spontaneously or fertilization is brought about by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI, injection of the sperm into the eggs). Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is used in particular when sperm motility is impaired, antibodies against sperm are present or the sperm count is very low.
• Assisted hatching: In this procedure, the protective envelope around the embryo is thinned slightly with a laser to facilitate hatching of the embryo and subsequent implantation in the uterine lining.
• Cryopreservation(freezing of eggs or sperm): As part of in vitro fertilization, several eggs are fertilized, but not all of them are implanted in the uterus. The remaining fertilized eggs are deep-frozen for any fertility treatments that may be required at a later date. In addition to fertilized eggs, sperm can also be frozen and thawed again later. Cryopreservation is not only important for artificial insemination, but can also play an important role in some therapies (e.g. cancer therapy).

The moment of fertilization: Sperm meets egg cell © Kateryna_Kon / Fotolia

How do I find the "best clinic" for reproductive medicine?

It is not possible to designate a clinic as the "best clinic" or "top clinic" for reproductive medicine. However, there are doctors and clinics that specialize in fertility treatment and have extensive experience. You can find these experts in reproductive medicine in the Leading Medicine Guide.

What makes our doctors specialists in reproductive medicine?

Only selected highly qualified medical experts and specialists from Switzerland are presented in the Leading Medicine Guide. All listed doctors have a high level of specialist expertise, have excellent experience in the field of reproductive medicine and meet the strict inclusion criteria of the Leading Medicine Guide.