Assisted reproductive technology can be successful.  However, it is not a cookie cutter approach, and it is not guaranteed.  Your best treatment option will depend on your specific fertility issue, your age and your overall health.

Both infertility testing and treatment can be long, complicated and very emotional processes.  Couples need to be aware of all the implications up front so they can understand the commitment they will need to make.  Tests may reveal a cause right away and the solution may be relatively simple.  On the other hand, diagnosis may extend over several months and treatment, at its most extreme, over several years.  Evaluation and treatment is usually expensive and may involve uncomfortable procedures and even surgery.  Costs are not covered by many insurance plans. Finally, there's no guarantee that conception will occur in the end.

A variety of causes can produce infertility, each with its own treatment and each with its own chance of success.  As options increase from the most simple to the most sophisticated assisted reproductive technologies, the rate of success for couples seeking treatment is going up. 

Infertility treatment success is defined as the birth of a healthy infant.  Here are some commonly quoted statistics:

• A cause can be determined for about 85 to 90 percent of infertile couples.
  
  
• Without any treatment intervention, 15 to 20 percent of couples previously diagnosed as infertile will eventually become pregnant.
  
  
• More than half of couples who seek infertility treatment get pregnant without advanced techniques such as in vitro fertilization.
  
  
• Assisted reproductive technology (ART) success rates are highly dependent on the age of the woman.  A 2003 Centers for Disease Prevention report showed the average percentage of ART cycles that led to a healthy baby were as follows:
• 37.3% in women under the age of 35
• 30.2% in women aged 35-37
• 20.2% in women aged 37-40
• 11.0% in women aged 41-42

Doctors usually start the evaluation process with physical exams and health and sexual histories. In some cases, they uncover an obvious problem that can be easily corrected – such as the couple's use of lubricants that are toxic to sperm or simply poorly timed intercourse.  They investigate sexual issues such as sexual technique, problems with erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation or painful intercourse, and psychological or relationship issues that contribute to problems with intimacy.  They then proceed to more specific evaluations such as semen analysis, confirmation of ovulation and more.

Once doctors have a specific diagnosis they can recommend appropriate treatments from medical therapy to reproductive surgery to intrauterine insemination to assisted reproductive technology. 

• Medical therapy.  Fertility drugs are the primary treatment for women who are infertile due to ovulation disorders.  These medications regulate or induce ovulation.  Fertility drugs significantly increase the chance of multiple births. 
  
  
• Surgical therapies.  Blockages or other physical damage in both the man and woman can often be surgically repaired.
  
  
• Assisted reproductive technology (ART).  IVF (in vitro fertilization) is the most common and the most effective ART and is often used when a woman's fallopian tubes are blocked or when a man produces too few sperm.  Other techniques such as ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), ZIFT (zygote intrafallopian transfer), and GIFT (gamete intrafallopian transfer) may also be used.  ART procedures sometimes involve the use of donor eggs, donor sperm, or previously frozen embryos.