What is Ovulation?
Ovulation is the release of the egg from a woman’s ovary. If fertilisation of the egg is successful, it will form an embryo and may become a pregnancy. If there is no fertilisation of the egg, menstruation will occur usually 2 weeks after ovulation.
Regular ovulation is associated with regular menstruation. If you have irregular or no menstruation, you may have ovulatory disorder.
What is Ovulation Induction?
Ovulatory disorder is the most common cause of subfertility, affecting a third of couples with subfertility issues. Medications such as Clomiphene Citrate and Letrozole are commonly used to induce ovulation in such patients. Gonadotropins (injections) can also be given for patients who are not responsive to oral medications.
How it is given?
The smallest dosage of medication is taken orally for 5 days starting on the 2nd day of menses. The effectiveness of the dosage is checked by a blood test (serum progesterone) on Day 21 of your menstrual cycle. The dosage may be increased in increments per cycle until an ovulatory cycle is achieved.
For gonadotropins, we will usually recommend ultrasound to monitor the growth of the follicles (eggs) during the cycle and use it in combination with Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) to obtain better pregnancy rates.
What happens?
Up to 80% of patients who are given ovulation induction medication will ovulate and half of them will conceive. However, this varies if there are other subfertility factors involved.
Some common side effects of Clomiphene Citrate include hot flushes, headaches, and giddiness. Other risks include multiple pregnancies. Usually, a trial of six ovulatory cycles is sufficient to know if pregnancy will be achieved using ovulation induction medication before moving on to more complex treatment.
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