If you’re new to the world of fertility treatments or are just beginning your research into it, chances are you’re being inundated with acronyms, some of which you may not know. Here’s a big one that you’ll see often — ART. Assisted Reproductive Technology is nothing like the art you did in grade school, but it is an art form in its own right, one where science and technology work together to create a masterpiece — human life.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ART refers to fertility treatments that involve the handling of both eggs and sperm. This can include procedures in which eggs are surgically removed from a woman’s ovaries, combined with sperm in the laboratory, and returned to the woman’s body (in-vitro fertilization) or donated to another woman. ART does not include treatments in which only sperm are handled, such as intrauterine insemination or artificial insemination, or procedures in which a woman takes medicine only to stimulate egg production.
Since 1981, ART has been used in the United States to assist women in their quests to become pregnant. According to the CDC, today more than 1 percent of all infants born in the U.S. were conceived using ART. Are you interested in ART helping to create your own masterpiece? Contact us for an appointment to discuss your options.