Infertility treatments depend on the cause, age, duration of infertility and personal preferences. They can either restore fertility through medication or surgery or help achieve pregnancy through advanced techniques. Fertility drugs, which regulate or stimulate ovulation, are the main treatment for women with ovulation disorders. These drugs mimic natural hormones like follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) to trigger ovulation and may also be used to stimulate better or extra eggs in women who already ovulate.
Common fertility drugs include:
• Clomiphene citrate (Clomid): Helps women who don’t ovulate regularly or at all release an egg each month
• Letrozole (Femara): An aromatase inhibitor that works similarly to Clomid
• Metformin: Helps women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) ovulate by improving insulin resistance
• Gonadotropins: Stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs
• Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG): Triggers the release of eggs during ovulation
• Bromocriptine (Cycloset, Parlodel): Helps with ovulation problems caused by excess prolactin production
• Tamoxifen: An alternative to Clomifene for women with ovulation problems
• Other fertility drugs include: Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone, Dopamine agonists, and Antioxidants and vitamins.
The recommended dose and type of fertility drug depends on a person’s health and the cause of their infertility.
The risks of using fertility drugs include:
• Pregnancy with multiples: The risk of having twins is below 10% when using oral medication and increases up to 30% with injectables, which also carry the risk of triplets or more. The more fetuses, the higher the risk of premature labour, low birth weight and developmental issues.
• Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS): This rare condition is caused by injecting fertility drugs and results in swollen and painful ovaries. Symptoms usually go away without treatment and include mild abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. A more severe form can cause rapid weight gain, fluid in the abdomen and shortness of breath.
• Long-term risks of ovarian tumours: Studies suggest that there are few long-term risks, however, women taking fertility drugs for 12 months or longer without a successful pregnancy may have an increased risk of borderline ovarian tumours later in life.
Read more in this article by the Mayo Clinic.
Specifically for IVF, there is this article by the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority: that discusses the options for having a less medicated form of IVF, which include: Natural cycle IVF; Mild stimulation IVF; and In vitro maturation (IVM).
