Fertility treatment supports couples who are trying to conceive but are unable to do so despite having regular sexual intercourse. Modern treatment options such as IVF, ICSI, or insemination enable the targeted fertilization of an egg with a sperm and are tailored to each couple’s individual needs.
Medical diagnostics, hormonal treatment, and collaboration with a fertility clinic play a central role in fertility treatment.
It is not uncommon these days for couples to remain childless. In Germany alone, one in seven couples is infertile.
The main causes are:
Most couples then need medical help to fulfill their dream of having a baby. Often, hormone therapy alone is enough to achieve pregnancy.
However, the doctor must first determine the cause of the inability to conceive through fertility testing:
Fertility treatment helps women or couples conceive.
Among the most common physical causes are hormonal disorders. These primarily affect the maturation process of female eggs. In such cases, the treating physician attempts to regulate the menstrual cycle with hormone therapy.
The goal is to induce early ovulation.
The following substances may be used for this purpose:
With successful hormone therapy, you can significantly increase your chances of having a baby. In some cases, artificial insemination may no longer be necessary.
Your treating physician will determine which fertility treatment is ultimately best for you. In addition to hormone therapy, there are other treatments that can help you get pregnant.
Insemination
Insemination is performed when the sperm have normal or only slightly reduced quality and quantity.
In this case, specialists prepare the ejaculate. Doctors then insert the motile sperm into the uterus at the time of ovulation or shortly before.
In IVF, the egg and sperm are combined in a test tube © Andriy Bezuglov | AdobeStock
In vitro fertilization consists of two treatment steps. In the first step, the treating physician typically administers hormone therapy to stimulate egg maturation.
The doctor then retrieves the eggs, which are combined in the laboratory with the man’s prepared sperm. Since fertilization takes place in a test tube, the procedure is also called “in vitro” (in a tube).
If fertilization is successful, the doctor transfers the tiny embryos back into the uterus after a few days.
Intracytoplasmic insemination is also known in the medical field as microinjection. Reproductive biologists use this method when sperm quality is severely compromised. To do this, they inject a single sperm directly into the egg under a microscope.
After successful fertilization, the embryo—formed through cell division—is transferred to the uterus after a few days.
Cryopreservation is the storage of eggs in liquid nitrogen. During IVF or ICSI treatment, doctors may retrieve more fertilized eggs than are needed for the current treatment. These fertilized eggs can then be frozen.
If pregnancy does not occur or if the couple wishes to have another child, patients can have the fertilized eggs thawed and used again.
If you are considering fertility treatment, you must meet certain requirements.
These include:
Coverage of treatment costs is generally provided only:
Before treatment begins, you must submit a treatment plan to your health insurance provider. It must describe the necessity of fertility treatment. Under certain conditions, health insurance providers cover 100 percent of the treatment costs.
Only the spouses’ own eggs and sperm are used for the treatment. If you have the fertilized eggs frozen, health insurance companies will not cover the costs.
The amount of the copay depends on the scope of the treatment. However, health insurance plans generally do not cover more than three attempts. If pregnancy does not occur after the third attempt, couples may have to pay for subsequent treatments out of pocket.
Fertility treatment offers couples who wish to have children but are unable to conceive on their own modern options to overcome involuntary childlessness by bringing the egg and sperm together in a controlled setting for fertilization.
Depending on the cause, sperm quality, condition of the fallopian tubes, fertility, and menstrual cycle, insemination, IVF, ICSI, or in vitro fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in which sperm cells or a single sperm cell are injected directly into the egg.
At the fertility clinic, medically supervised diagnostics, hormonal stimulation, egg maturation, and egg retrieval from the ovaries take place before the fertilized egg is further developed in the laboratory. Fertilization can be achieved through artificial insemination, resulting in embryos that are transferred directly into the uterus to establish a pregnancy.
Hormone therapy and hormonal stimulation support ovulation, create conditions conducive to fertilization, and prepare the uterus, regardless of whether intercourse, IVF, or ICSI is used. If necessary, embryos or the fertilized egg can be frozen through cryopreservation, allowing fertility treatments to continue in later cycles or at different fertility clinics.
Fertility treatment is a medical procedure that is individually tailored to both partners, taking into account health insurance coverage, processed sperm, embryo transfer, fallopian tube function, and the couple’s personal situation.
What is fertility treatment?
Fertility treatment encompasses medical procedures such as IVF, ICSI, or insemination, in which an egg is specifically fertilized to help couples who are unable to conceive naturally.
What treatment options are available for fertility?
Treatment options include insemination, in vitro fertilization, ICSI, hormonal stimulation, cryopreservation, and other fertility treatment methods, depending on the diagnosis of both partners.
What is the difference between IVF and ICSI?
In IVF, the egg is fertilized outside the body, whereas in ICSI, a single sperm is injected directly into the egg, particularly in cases of poor sperm quality.
Does health insurance cover fertility treatment?
Under certain conditions, health insurance will cover part of the costs of fertility treatment, such as for married couples and when there is a medical indication.
What are the chances of success with fertility treatment?
The success rate depends on the woman’s age, the cause of infertility, the chosen treatment method, and the individual treatment plan at the fertility clinic.
Every physician listed in the Leading Medicine Guide has attained the highest level of training and certification within their respective medical specialty society. Furthermore, we contacted this physician based, among other factors, on their case volume (surgeries, treatments, and therapies), which we determined by cross-referencing various publicly available sources. Following discussions with the selected physicians and the directors of the medical facilities, as well as a subsequent internal review, they were admitted to the Leading Medicine Guide.
The quality assurance of the Leading Medicine Guide is further ensured by 8 admission criteria. Each member must meet at least 6 of them:
