Definitions
As you’re going through any fertility treatment, it’s important to know the meaning of the many abbreviations, acronyms and medical words. HRC wants to ensure you understand all aspects of your treatment, and we have provided a detailed list of the need-to-know definitions.
AI (Artificial Insemination)
Inserting sperm into your uterus, without having sex, in order to try and get pregnant.
AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone)
You’ll hear people talking a lot about this protein hormone, as you’re often tested to check your levels of it during infertility investigations. Ideally, you want an AMH level of 6 – 24.
You can have the test at any stage in your cycle: how much of the hormone you have can show whether or not your body will react well to fertility drugs for IVF treatment as well as a t look into your ovarian egg reserve.
ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies)
ART is the umbrella term used to describe infertility treatments like IVF, which require both the egg and the sperm to be handled.
ASH (Assisted Hatching)
A complex procedure to assist the IVF process that allows a fertilized embryo to ‘hatch’ from a layer of cells called the zona pellucida in the 4th day of its development, by creating a small hole in the layer – ‘hatching’ from these cells is how embryos attach to the uterus walls.
Azoospermia
Azoospermia is the medical term when there’s no sperm present in a man’s semen.
BBT (Basal Body Temperature)
Your body’s natural temperature when you’re rested. Tracking BBT can be used as a way to know when you’re at your most fertile, as ovulation can cause a slight increase in temp.
Biochemical or Chemical Pregnancy
The medical term used to describe a very early miscarriage, which usually happens in the 1st couple weeks after you’ve had your embryo transferred to the womb
Blastocyst
The term for the early stage of an embryo, 5 days after fertilization. The inner cells will become the fetus, and the outer cells go on to form the placenta. Before this, it would be called a zygote.
Clinical Pregnancy
A pregnancy that’s been confirmed by both an ultrasound showing either a heartbeat or gestational sac, and high levels of the pregnancy hormone HCG.
A fertility drug that stimulates the ovaries
COS (Controlled Ovarian Stimulation)
The process of stimulating ovulation using fertility drugs such as Clomid or Metformin.
Cryopreservation
Freezing cells or tissue in order to keep it preserved for the future, as in freezing your eggs or embryos.
DI (Donor Insemination)
Using sperm from a sperm donor in order to get pregnant with IUI, IVF or other fertility treatment options.
DOR (Diminished Ovarian Reserve)
A woman’s ovarian reserve refers to the quality and quantity of her eggs, and diminished ovarian reserve means those factors are decreasing.
DI (Donor Insemination)
Ectopic Pregnancy
The medical term for when your baby grows outside of, instead of inside the womb. Most ectopic pregnancies occur in the fallopian tubes.
Egg Retrieval
A simple, surgical procedure to gather your eggs for treatment.
Embryo
Your baby 2 – 8 weeks after fertilization takes place. Prior to this, the embryo is called a blastocyst, and before that, a zygote.
Embryo Transfer
The final stage of IVF treatment, where your embryos are placed back into your uterus.
Endometriosis
A medical condition affecting women, where tissue meant to grow inside the womb can grow elsewhere – often in the ovaries or fallopian tubes.
Estrogen
The female hormone you have that helps develop and maintain female sex characteristics
Fallopian Tubes
The bit of the female body where the egg travels from the ovaries, to the uterus.
Fertilization
The joining of your egg and your partner’s sperm, where the combination of both of your different genes takes place.
FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer)
Thawed embryos are placed into your uterus after previously being frozen.
Follicles
Small sacs with fluid inside that sit on your ovaries. There’s an immature egg inside each follicle, which grows and reaches its peak growth around the time of ovulation.
FSH (Follicle-Stimulating Hormone)
A hormone produced by the pituitary gland, which regulates the menstrual cycle and helps manage sperm production.
As with AMH levels, your FSH will often be tested during initial infertility tests – as it can determine whether or not egg reserves or sperm count is low, giving you an indicator of how your treatment will progress.
Gamete
A cell that fuses with another cell during fertilization. These two cells carry the genetic and chromosomal information that initially forms a zygote (an egg that has been fertilized by sperm).
GIFT (Gamete IntraFallopian Transfer)
An infertility treatment where eggs are removed from the ovaries, and placed inside the fallopian tubes, along with male sperm, in order to get pregnant.
GS (Gestational Surrogacy)
With gestational surrogacy, the child in not biologically related to the surrogate mother.
HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin)
HCG is a hormone created by the placenta detected by some pregnancy tests. An injection of HCG is given before the egg retrieval procedure.
Hysteroscopy
A hysteroscopy allows your doctor to see inside the uterus, mostly in cases of abnormal bleeding.
ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection)
When a lone, high-quality sperm is injected straight into the egg during IVF, rather than allowing the sperm and egg to find one another in the dish.
Implantation
A very early stage in pregnancy, where the blastocyst (early embryo) is attaching to the wall of the uterus.
In Vitro
This Latin term refers to any medical process that takes place outside of a human body, for example in a test tube or petri dish.
IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation)
An egg being fertilized by sperm outside the body.
Laparoscopy
Surgical procedure allowing doctors to look at the organs in the abdomen and pelvic region – including the ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes.
LH (Luteinising Hormone)
Similar to FSH, this is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland, that monitors ovaries in women and testes in men.
LP (Luteal Phase)
Part of the menstrual cycle where the uterus lining thickens in order to prepare for pregnancy, which happens after the ovaries have already released an egg.
Menopur
A similar drug to Clomid and Metformin that stimulates the ovaries to help produce eggs.
Metformin
A common fertility drug designed to stimulate the ovaries for egg production and regular periods.
Mini IVF
IVF with a smaller dose of fertility-boosting drugs.
Natural Cycle IVF
IVF without use of fertility drugs to stop the natural production of eggs.
OHSS (Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome)
A potential complication of fertility drugs that affects the ovaries, and can occasionally become quite serious.
Oocyte
An egg cell – which after undergoing meiotic division can become a fully-fledged ovum.
Ovum
Another term for eggs.
PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome )
characterized by elevated androgens (male hormone), reduced insulin sensitivity and numerous cysts on the ovary. Elevated androgens can lead to infrequent or irregular ovulation.
Progesterone
A pregnancy hormone that assists in stimulating the uterus.
Prolactin
The hormone produced by the pituitary gland responsible for producing milk after giving birth.
Sperm Washing
The official term for separating individual sperm from semen. This usually takes place after the woman has had her eggs retrieved during IVF/ICSI treatment.
TESA (Testicular Epididymal Sperm Aspiration)
A simple procedure where sperm is aspirated from the testicles using a needle. TESA is used when a man’s sperm doesn’t come out during ejaculation, or they’ve previously had a vasectomy.
TESE (Testicular Epididymal Sperm Extraction)
Done for the same reasons ast TESA, a surgical procedure where sperm is extracted from the testicles. Like with aspiration, this involves a small incision in the testicles and is done in a hospital.
Traditional Surrogacy
A traditional surrogate either undergoes IUI or IVF with sperm from the male or sperm donor. The surrogate provides the eggs and is genetically related to the child.
Tubal Patency Test
Also known as HyCoSy, or Fallopian Tube Patency Test, this infertility test uses an x-ray examination to determine if the fallopian tubes are blocked or damaged in any way, and are the cause of fertility issues.
Uterus/Womb
The sex organ where your baby will be carried. ‘Uterus’ and ‘womb’ both refer to the same organ.
Vitrification
In IVF, vitrification refers to a type of cryopreservation (freezing) of embryos. Vitrification is ‘ultra-rapid freezing’ compared to the traditionally-used process of slow-freezing.
ZIFT (Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer)
A similar procedure to GIFT, eggs are removed from the ovaries and fertilized via IVF before being placed inside your fallopian tubes via a laparoscopy procedure.
Zygote
The cell created by the joining of the sperm and the ovum. It’s the result of fertilization, and will eventually become a fully-fledged embryo.