January 20, 1999
Web posted at: 8:51 p.m. EST (0151 GMT)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- A combination of two simple, inexpensive infertility treatments has a pregnancy rate similar to high-tech, expensive alternatives such as in vitro fertilization, according to a new study.

The combination of super-ovulation drugs and intracervical artifical insemination, where sperm is injected into the cervical canal, resulted in a 19 percent pregnancy rate per cycle, according to the study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

The combination of drugs and intrauterine artificial insemination, where sperm is injected into the uterus, resulted in a 33 percent pregnancy rate.

"This study conclusively shows couples can achieve a good pregnancy rate without resorting to in vitro fertilization," said Dr. Michael Steinkampf of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one of the study's authors.

The combination of artificial insemination and super-ovulation drugs that stimulate the release of several eggs instead of one costs about $300 to $400 per cycle versus $8,000 to $10,000 per cycle with in vitro fertilization.

The study followed 932 couples at 10 infertility treatment centers across the United States. For each couple, there was no diagnosed reason for the woman to be infertile, and the man had to have either a normal or borderline sperm count.

Research also shows the use of super-ovulation drugs increases the chance of multiple births. The rate of multiple births was similar to that seen with in vitro fertilization with three quadruplet pregnancies, four sets of triplets and 18 sets of twins.

"Ninety-five percent of the pregnancies that resulted from artificial insemination and super-ovulation were singletons or twins," Steinkampf said.

Physicians treating infertile couples say inexpensive, low-tech treatments can help more than half of all couples seeking treatment. Those couples include women with unexplained infertility and minor endometriosis.

Women with blocked fallopian tubes and men with low sperm counts may not be helped with low-tech therapies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.