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Semen analysis.

The examination of the ejaculation (semen) under the microscope. It determines the sperm count and evaluates their shape and their ability to move correctly and in the proper direction.

Superovulation with timed intrauterine insemination.

A procedure to facilitate fertilization. The woman is given drugs to induce ovulation of multiple eggs. When the eggs are ready to be released, the woman is inseminated with her partner's sperm which has been washed, concentrated and is usually inserted directly into the uterus through a small plastic tube.

Surrogate.

A traditional surrogate is a woman who is inseminated with the sperm of a man who is not her partner in order to conceive and carry a child to be reared by the biological genetic father and his partner. In this procedure the surrogate is genetically related to the child. The biological father and his partner must usually adopt the child after its birth. Another type of surrogate is a gestational carrier. This process involves implanting a fertilized egg into the surrogate's uterus. In the procedure the surrogate does not provide the egg and is therefore not biologically genetically related to the child. This type of surrogate provides what is often referred to as a host uterus.

Syncytiotrophoblast.

This is a specialized cell of the placenta (also a trophoblast) which acts like a dialysis membrane between the mothers blood and the babies blood, feeding the baby as well as removing waste products from the babies blood.