The harsh fact is that approximately 20% of couples have trouble becoming pregnant after trying for one year and for many of those couples, an obvious cause of infertility cannot be found. There are three basic groups into which fertility treatments can be grouped: fertility medications, surgical treatments and assisted conception.

Medications have long been used as a form for infertility treatment. Medications for infertility are mainly used to help with the ovulation process. This is the process in which the ovaries produce and release an egg. Many women have trouble ovulating on a regular cycle, or even at all.

The body's natural ovulation process is controlled by hormones that are called gonadotrophins. One type of treatment for infertility actually involves injecting medications containing gonadotrophins into the body.

They are usually used after clomifene, another medication, has failed. Clomifene is taken in tablet form and is used to make the pituitary gland produce more gonadotrophin hormones than normal. There are also medications that are used to stimulate the pituitary gland which contain gonadotrophin-releasing hormones.

Other types of infertility treatment require surgical procedures. While surgical procedures do not cure every infertility issue, they can help in several situations. Women who have had their tubes tied in the past as a means of contraception can have them reversed, in order to become pregnant.

In some cases, the fallopian tubes may be blocked or scarred. This can happen because of infections, a prior disease and many other factors.

It is sometimes possible to remove the blockage or repair the scaring, which will hopefully allow the patient to conceive. There are also different surgical procedures that can help male infertility.

The third group of treatments falls under the assisted conception category. This category contains several different techniques including intrauterine insemination, intracytoplasmic sperm injection and in vitro fertilization.

When looking into infertility treatment options, physicians will consider several factors. The age of the patient and any other health issues that they might have will play into whether or not certain procedures can be administered.

The good news is that for most infertility issues there is hope; medicine and infertility procedures have come a long way in the last few years. If an individual is having trouble getting pregnant, then the first step should be to consult a physician and voice their concerns, since there may be an easy solution to the problem.