Fertility Treatment Options for Single Men
Families do not all look the same, and at the Houston Fertility Center, we believe that diversity should be embraced. That is why our fertility clinic offers a range of treatments and services that give everyone in the Houston, TX, area the opportunity to pursue their dream of parenthood.
Here, we look specifically at fertility treatment options for single men. These treatments allow single men to build the family they desire in the time frame that is right for them.
Surrogacy and Egg Donation
While men are perfectly capable of being single fathers and raising a child on their own, biologically speaking, a female is needed to conceive and carry a child. Therefore, to undergo fertility treatment, single men need to work with a surrogate or egg donor.
Surrogates are women who offer to carry a pregnancy to term and then give that child to the intended parent or parents. There are two types of surrogates that our patients can work with: traditional and gestational surrogates.
Traditional surrogates are biologically related to the child they carry, meaning that they act as both egg donors and gestational surrogates. In contrast, gestational surrogates carry an embryo that has been fertilized with the father’s sperm and a donor egg, meaning it is not biologically related to them.
Single men who work with gestational surrogates will also need an egg donor. Egg donors agree to anonymously donate eggs to be used in fertility treatments. In a typical egg donation cycle, more than one egg is collected. This gives our Houston patients the opportunity to fertilize multiple embryos, which can be frozen for future use, if desired.
Intrauterine Insemination
Intrauterine insemination, or IUI, is a fertility treatment that is commonly offered to single men working with a traditional surrogate. This procedure, which is widely known as artificial insemination, is minimally invasive and involves less steps than in vitro fertilization.
During IUI treatment, a semen sample is collected from the father, which is then washed and concentrated. This enhanced sample is then inserted directly into the surrogate’s uterus via a thin catheter. IUI greatly reduces the distance that sperm need to travel to fertilize an egg, which increases the likelihood of conception.
In Vitro Fertilization
In vitro fertilization ( IVF) is a great fertility treatment option for those of our Houston patients who are working with both an egg donor and gestational surrogate. IVF is a multi-stage treatment that involves fertilizing donor eggs in a laboratory setting. Once fertilized, the most viable embryos are then transferred to the gestational surrogate where they will ideally implant, resulting in pregnancy.
To coordinate IVF treatment, the egg donor and surrogate both undergo ovarian stimulation, so that their menstrual cycles are aligned. Donor eggs are collected and introduced to sperm that has been collected from the father. Eggs are then monitored for several days to determine if and when fertilization takes place. On day three or five of fertilization embryos are graded and one (or more) is selected for embryo transfer. The embryo is placed in a thin catheter and is transferred directly to the gestational surrogate’s uterus. Approximately two weeks after the embryo transfer, we will perform a pregnancy test to determine if treatment has been a success.
Get In Touch
Single men who want to experience the joys of parenthood do not have to wait until they meet their ideal partner. At the Houston Fertility Center, Dr. Sonja Kristiansen and her team offer fertility treatments that give single men the opportunity to become a parent now. To explore these options further, get in touch with our team of fertility specialists online or call (713) 225-5375.
