Unexplained Infertility
10 to 15 percent of patients, there is no clear answer as to the source of their fertility struggles, meaning the cause may be beyond our current understanding or beyond the sophistication of our testing procedures.
Many cases of unexplained infertility are usually age-related sub-fertility. That is, there is nothing really wrong, it's just taking longer to get pregnant because fewer eggs are chromosomally normal.
Empirical therapy
If a thorough review still provides no clues or leads as to the cause of a patient's infertility, we use a method known as empirical therapy, in which treatment is based not on conclusive evidence but on observation or experience with other infertile couples. The justification for empirical therapy is simply that it frequently works. Because a large number of our patients find success through Assisted Reproductive Therapies (ART), we also use this approach for patients with unexplained fertility.
By using hormonal therapy alongside artificial insemination technologies such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF), we are able to cast a wide net and address as many fertility factors as possible.
Because ART techniques are based upon enhancement (such as hormones to increase egg production) and/or substitution, such as IVF to help with fertilization, they can be applied to unexplained infertility patients with the hope that what is being enhanced or substituted is the element responsible for the infertility.