The biology of controlling fertilityTreatments for infertility - Stimulating ovulation

There are a number of treatments available dependent on the circumstance of infertility.

Stimulating ovulation

A woman may fail to ovulate naturally if she is not producing enough follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) or luteinizing hormone (LH).

In this case, she could be prescribed drugs which will work in one of two ways:

• They can prevent the negative feedback effect of oestrogen on FSH
• They might mimic the normal action of FSH and LH, stimulating ovulation

Artificially stimulating ovulation can sometimes lead to multiple births. This is because the drugs used cause super ovulation to occur ie the release of a number of eggs at one time.

Super ovulation can be used in in vitro fertilisation (IVF) programmes. It can help with the collection of ova as several can be collected at the same time.