IVF, IUI and egg freezing: the basics

IUI places prepared sperm into the womb around ovulation. IVF brings eggs and sperm together in a laboratory, then transfers an embryo to the womb. Egg freezing collects and stores eggs for possible treatment later. The first discussion with your clinic is about which treatment fits your needs.

What happens with IUI

Intrauterine insemination, or IUI, can use a partner’s sperm or donor sperm. A clinic prepares the sample and places it in the uterus. The treatment may follow your own cycle or involve fertility medicines; timing and monitoring depend on the plan.

IUI is less invasive than IVF, but it is not suitable for every fertility problem. Blocked fallopian tubes or severe endometriosis, for example, may make it unsuitable. HFEA reports that IUI has lower success per cycle than IVF. Ask the clinic why it recommends IUI for your circumstances and when the plan would be reviewed.

The main stages of IVF

IVF usually involves medicines to stimulate egg production, monitoring with scans or blood tests, and egg collection with sedation or anaesthetic. The eggs are mixed with sperm in the laboratory. Sometimes a procedure called ICSI is used, where an embryologist injects a sperm into an egg.

If embryos develop, the team discusses transfer to the womb and whether suitable remaining embryos can be frozen. You will be given a date for a pregnancy test. Ask your clinic to explain each stage and how your plan may differ; follow the instructions for your prescribed medicines.

IVF success varies with factors including age and the cause of fertility difficulties. A clinic’s headline success rate cannot tell you whether treatment will work for you. Ask which patients the rate describes, whether it means pregnancy or live birth, and what is counted as a treatment cycle.

Discuss the risk of a multiple pregnancy before treatment. Transferring more embryos during IVF increases the chance of twins or triplets, which carry health risks. IUI with fertility medicines also needs monitoring: a clinic may cancel a cycle if too many follicles develop. Ask how the team will reduce these risks.

What egg freezing involves

Egg freezing uses stimulation and collection like IVF, but the eggs are frozen without being fertilised. Later, eggs that survive thawing are fertilised with sperm for treatment. Freezing eggs does not guarantee a baby.

Ask for recent results relevant to your age and a written estimate covering collection, medicines, storage and later use. Storage involves consent decisions, including how long eggs are kept and what happens if you no longer want to use them. Keep your contact details current with the clinic.

Donors and LGBTQ+ family building

Donor sperm can be used with IUI or IVF, and IVF can use donor eggs. Reciprocal IVF means eggs from a partner are fertilised and the other partner carries the pregnancy. These options may suit LGBTQ+ people, single parents by choice and others using donor treatment.

Ask about donor screening, counselling and legal parenthood before treatment. ASRM advises considering specialist legal advice when another person provides eggs, sperm or carries the pregnancy. Trans and non-binary people can discuss fertility preservation and how care fits with gender-affirming treatment with their specialists.

Funding and the full cost

In England, local integrated care boards decide NHS funding. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make their own funding decisions. Ask your GP what is available locally and what a funded cycle includes. HFEA provides information about licensed UK clinics and treatment choices.

In the US, check the exact insurance benefits and ask for itemised clinic costs. An estimate may exclude medicines, screening or additional procedures. Ask about storage, future transfers and cancellation charges. Include travel and time away from work in your own budget.

Help during treatment

Call 999 now (UK) or 911 (US), or your local emergency number, if you have difficulty breathing, chest or upper back pain, marked thirst with less pee than usual, swelling anywhere in your body, one-sided lower tummy pain or shoulder-tip pain during or after fertility treatment.

Contact your fertility clinic or NHS 111 (UK), your fertility clinician (US), or your local urgent care service now for tummy pain and bloating, nausea or vomiting, faintness, coughing up blood, vaginal bleeding or brown watery discharge, or pain when peeing or pooing during or after treatment. Fertility medicines can sometimes cause ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, where the ovaries become enlarged and painful.

Ask the clinic about counselling before, during or after treatment. You can ask about the emotional demands of treatment at the same appointment as your practical questions.