Three Ways To Give Nature A Helping Hand

By Text by Laura Bradford

Sometimes hormone therapy does the trick, but many infertile couples require more sophisticated manipulation of sperm and eggs. Among the techniques that offer the greatest hope for success:

In vitro fertilization

HOW THEY DO IT A woman's eggs are extracted and mixed with her partner's sperm in a Petri dish. The resulting embryo is transferred to her uterus through the cervix

POPULARITY At least 60,000 IVF procedures are performed in the U.S. annually, with an average birthrate of 25%

ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection)

HOW THEY DO IT To counteract problems with sperm count, quality or mobility, doctors inject a single sperm directly into a mature egg to increase the chance of fertilization

POPULARITY ICSI accounts for approximately 24,000 IVF procedures annually. Average birthrate: 30%

Egg donation

HOW THEY DO IT When the problem is aging eggs, a young woman may donate her eggs to the couple. Fertilized with the man's sperm, the resulting embryo is implanted in the older woman's womb

POPULARITY More than 5,000 eggs are donated yearly. After the eggs are fertilized, the birthrate is approximately 40%

Sources: American Society for Reproductive Medicine; National Center for Health Statistics; CDC; British Medical Journal; Mayo Clinic