Ovulation induction is a treatment for women who have irregular menstrual cycles and don’t produce an egg each month (anovulation).
Anovulation is the commonest cause of infertility, but the good news is, it’s also the easiest to treat. Ovulation induction aims to restore ovulation in the most natural way possible.
Anovulation can be caused by a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Other causes include stress, weight loss or weight gain, or excessive production of a hormone called prolactin, which stimulates milk production in the breasts.
What does ovulation induction involve?
Ovulation induction involves taking fertility drugs, either as tablets or injections, to help the ovaries produce and release a single egg each month. You’ll only be offered hormone injections if the milder tablets you’ve been prescribed aren’t effective.
We’ll carefully monitor how you respond to your medication. We do this by carrying out a series of transvaginal ultrasound scans during the first half of your cycle (called follicle tracking). We’ll also take a blood test seven days after ovulation. This is to check your levels of progesterone.
