Artificial insemination (AI) is an assisted reproductive technology that uses non-coital delivery of sperm into the female reproductive tract for the purpose of impregnating a woman. Also known as assisted conception, what are the chances of success for AI and IVF? Let’s take a look at the table below. As you can see, compared to the success rate of IVF, the success rate of IUI is relatively low, only 10-20%, but this success rate is similar to the probability of natural conception after normal intercourse. To understand the reason for this difference, it is important to start with the process of natural conception and artificial insemination. The process of natural conception Step 1 The male sperm will enter the woman’s vagina and begin to swim towards the fallopian tubes. The acidic environment of the female reproductive tract and the immune cells in the female body will screen out most of the sperm, and only a small number of sperm with strong swimming ability will be able to pass through the cervix, enter the uterus, and then arrive at the juxtaposition of the fallopian tubes to wait for the arrival of the egg, and ultimately only dozens of sperm to about one or two hundred sperm will arrive at the fallopian tubes. Step 2 The female egg is discharged and is successfully caught by the fallopian tube and finally meets the sperm in the fallopian tube. After this encounter, the sperm and egg unite to form a fertilized egg. Step 3 The fertilized egg moves slowly through the fallopian tube towards the uterine cavity while undergoing cell division to form an early embryo, which travels through the cilia of the fallopian tube to the uterine cavity. The embryo that has developed at the right time needs to find the right place to take root in the right state of the uterine lining before it can eventually continue to grow and develop. Each step of the entire process needs to happen at the right time for the right person. Whenever there is a problem at any of these steps, it is very difficult for a successful pregnancy to occur. The probability of success at each step is not 100%, and cumulatively the chances of successful conception after each ovulation are probably in the 10-20% range. The Process of Artificial Insemination In fact, the process of artificial insemination is similar to the process of normal natural conception. The process of artificial insemination is similar to that of natural conception. The husband’s semen or frozen sperm from a healthy sperm bank is injected into the woman’s uterine cavity after it has been optimized by a doctor in a laboratory. The process after the sperm enters the uterine cavity is largely similar to the process of natural conception. What’s so special about artificial insemination Knowing these similarities and differences between artificial insemination and natural conception, it’s easy to understand why the chances of success for artificial insemination are similar to natural conception and only slightly higher.