Fertility Drugs-An Overview

Fortunately, there are many fertility drugs available to help women conceive. These products range from oral ovulation induction agents, like Clomid or Serophene, to injectable hormones (FSH) including Repronex, Follistim, Gonal-F, Bravelle and Menopur.

Clomid a first line fertility drug that stimulates ovulation and has been available for many years. Most fertility specialists agree that Clomid should not be initiated until there has been a complete diagnostic workup of the female and male.

The literature clearly establishes that pregnancy on Clomid is most likely to occur during the first 3 ovulatory cycles and treatment beyond 6 cycles is not recommended.

Fertility specialists realize the importance of a thorough and rapid evaluation as fertility can decline rapidly in women especially those in their thirties. They will often progress to treatment with injectable follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) products such as Gonal-F, Follistim, Repronex, and Menopur. These medications stimulate the ovaries directly and cause the development of multiple follicles, each of which contains one egg. These fertility drugs should only be used by fertility specialists thoroughly trained in their use as serious side effects can occur.

Other fertility drug therapies include Parlodel for hyperprolactinemia, metformin for PCOS, progesterone to correct a luteal phase defect, antibiotics and others.

Unfortunately, there are few drug interventions for male factor infertility except in rare cases where there is a profound hormone deficiency. Fortunately, surgical treatment is available for men with varicoceles and IVF with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) enables men with few or no sperm in their ejaculate to father children.

The links at the top of the page point to Web pages with additional information on fertility drugs.

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