IUI vs. IVF: what’s the difference?

IVF and IUI are both ways to help you and your partner conceive, but they take pretty different paths to get there.

With IUI, doctors take a prepared sperm sample and place it directly into the uterus around ovulation — everything else happens naturally, the way it would without medical help. It's the lighter-touch option, and it's often where couples start.

IVF goes further. Eggs are retrieved directly from the ovaries, fertilized with sperm in a lab, and grown into an embryo before being placed back in the uterus. It's more involved — more appointments, more medication, a minor procedure for the retrieval — but that extra involvement is also what makes it possible in situations IUI can't handle, and why it tends to have a stronger success rate per cycle.

Neither path is "better" on its own — it depends on what's actually going on with fertility, and your doctor will help figure out which one fits your situation. What matters for you, as the partner, is understanding roughly what each step involves so you can show up for it, ask good questions, and know what your person is going through at each stage.