Artificial Insemination vs In Vitro Fertilization
Reproduction is the primary objective of living for a living being, yet it has been a problem for some individuals. Producing an offspring from one’s own blood makes a great deal of pleasure for the great majority of the individuals of all the biological species. However, there are some individuals born with the natural ability, potency, to produce offspring due to reproductive defects. Artificial insemination was a great answer for the problem, and in vitro fertilization is one example for that.
What is Artificial Insemination?
Artificial insemination (AI) takes place when semen being introduced into the female reproductive system deliberately for the purpose of fertilization, in such a way that there is no involvement of direct ejaculation into the vagina or oviduct. In simple terms, artificial insemination is the fusion of paternal genes with maternal genes artificially. Artificial insemination is a treatment for the infertility of animals including humans. Additionally, artificial insemination may be a solution for woman in need of a child on her own, but without a husband or a partner. Sometimes there are females with a too tight cervix that sperms cannot penetrate through it, which could be overcome with the artificial insemination technology.
There are many preparations to be made before conducting an artificial insemination such as semen collection from the sperm donor and closely monitored menstrual cycles of the female. Sperm donor could vary according to the demand of the female. There are many techniques used to carry out an artificial insemination viz. Intra-cervical insemination, Intra-uterine insemination, Intra-uterine tuboperitoneal insemination, Intra-tubal insemination, and In vitro fertilization. The technique varies depending on the situation and demand of the woman or the couple. In addition to humans, artificial insemination has been very effectively used to propagate endangered species such as elephants and many other species including bees sometimes.
What is In Vitro Fertilization?
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is colloquially known as making test tube babies. The fertilization of the egg with a sperm is conducted outside the body of the female in this technique. The Latin term in vitro means in glass, the medium where the fertilization is carried out is glass, and the zygote will be implanted on a suitable endometrium of a female. However, the medium of fertilization could be either plastic or organic material as well, because many techniques have been invented to increase the efficiency of conceiving. The rates of pregnancy and live births from IVF are higher for the ages less than 35 years. However, the there is a significant difference between live birth rate and pregnancy rate from IVF procedures, which is 41.4 and 47.6.
In vitro fertilization could be carried out with eggs that are either fresh or frozen and thawed. However, the fresh eggs have a higher rate of being successfully fertilized with a sperm than with a frozen and thawed egg. There are many factors affecting the pregnancy and live birth rates from IVF such as tobacco smoking, stress, semen quality, egg quality DNA fragmentation, basal metabolic index (BMI), and many others.
What is the difference between Artificial Insemination and In Vitro Fertilization?
• Artificial insemination is the fusion of an egg with a sperm artificially, whereas in vitro fertilization is specifically conducted outside the female’s body.
• The success rate is higher among AI techniques than in IVF methods.
• AI could be carried out in many ways, but IVF is one such methods.
• AI was started more than 100 years before the IVF was invented.