What is Conventional Insemination?
Conventional Insemination is the practice used by many fertility centers. Its process is 3 steps:
1. In Conventional Insemination, a woman’s eggs are placed in a petri dish along with sperm.
2. The sperm naturally fertilizes the egg, mimicking the “best sperm wins” dynamic of natural conception.
3. The sperm are allowed to fertilize the eggs naturally, without any assistance.
4. The fertilized eggs, now called embryos, are cultured in the laboratory for 3-5 days before being transferred to the uterus.
However, Conventional Insemination has a drawback: in 10-15% of cases, total fertilization failure (TFF) occurs, where none of the eggs fertilize. ICSI and PICSI are most of the time used instead. Conventional Insemination has a lower abnormality rate than ICSI.
*ICSI, although better than Conventional Insemination in certain aspects, has a higher cost. More information on finances at Finance.