Artificial insemination is a process that has seen many couples get children. Without this process, some couples would have found it hard bearing children. So, what really is “Artificial Insemination?' This is a process in which a man's sperm is introduced into a woman's uterus for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy. However, before the process is authorized to take place, doctors first have to get rid of any physical hinderance that causes the woman in question not to be able to achieve a pregnancy. The sperm can be taken from the woman's husband, partner, a known donor, or an anonymous donor. Should the whole insemination process be successful, then the woman will carry the pregnancy in a normal way, like any other woman who would have conceived naturally.
Briefly, the artificial insemination process has four major techniques in which the sperm to be used can be introduced into the woman's reproduction system. The first technique is intracervical insemination where unwashed or raw semen is injected into the woman's cervix using a syringe. The other common technique used is known as intrauterine insemination. This technique involves introduction of washed sperm into the uterus using a catheter. In this technique, if the sperm used is unwashed, it may cause some pain to the woman from the elicit uterine cramping caused by prostaglandins. The third technique that can be used is intrauterine tuboperitoneal insemination which involves introduction of semen into the uterus and the fallopian tubes by the use of an injection. The vagina is then clamped to avoid the leakage that could be as a result of the semen introduction into the reproductive system. The very last technique that could be used is the intratubal insemination. This technique involves the process through which semen is introduced to the fallopian tube through an injection.