page_title: Insemination
section_title: Artificial insemination
hierarchical_section_title: Insemination / Artificial insemination
caption_attribution_description: English: Artificial Insemination. This image was donated by Blausen Medical. Please visit our website to see more medical illustrations and animations.
context_page_description: Insemination is the introduction of sperm into a female animal’s reproductive system for the purpose of impregnating or fertilizing the female for sexual reproduction. The sperm is introduced into the uterus of a mammal or the oviduct of an oviparous animal. In mammals, insemination normally occurs during sexual intercourse or copulation, but insemination can take place in other ways, such as by artificial insemination.
  In humans, the act and form of insemination has legal, moral and interpersonal implications. However, whether insemination takes place naturally or by artificial means, the pregnancy and the progress of it will be the same. Insemination may be called in vivo fertilisation because an egg is fertilized inside the body, this is in contrast with in vitro fertilisation.
  In plants, the fertilization process is referred to as pollination. It is the process of transfer of pollen grains from one anther to stigma of other plants.
context_section_description: Artificial insemination is the introduction of sperm into the reproductive tract of a female by means other than sexual intercourse for the purpose of impregnating or fertilizing the female. In humans, artificial insemination may be used when a woman or her normal sex partner cannot, for any of a number of reasons, conceive by natural means. A number of artificial insemination strategies are available, including intracervical insemination (ICI) and intrauterine insemination (IUI). Compared with natural insemination, artificial insemination may be more invasive, and may require professional assistance and medical expertise, which will have a higher cost.
  ICI attempts to simulate natural insemination, without the sexual element. It is painless and is the simplest, easiest and most common method of artificial insemination, and can be performed in the home, either by the female on herself or with non-professional assistance. ICI involves the introduction of unwashed or raw semen into the vagina at the entrance to the cervix, usually by means of a needleless syringe. 
  The sperm for insemination may be provided by either a sexual partner of the female’s choice or by a sperm donor. Donor sperm is most commonly used by lesbian couples, single women, and heterosexual couples when the male partner is suffering from male infertility. There have been situations where a female has been inseminated with sperm collected from a female’s partner before him going off to war or even harvested after he has already died. There are laws in some countries which restrict and regulate who can donate sperm and who is able to receive artificial insemination, and the consequences of such insemination. Subject to any regulations restricting who can obtain donor sperm, donor sperm is available to all women who, for whatever reason, want or need it. Some women living in a jurisdiction which does not permit artificial insemination in the circumstance in which she finds herself may travel to another jurisdiction (a 'fertility destination') which permits it. (See Sperm donation laws by country.)
  Artificial insemination has been and continues to be commonly used in livestock breeding as an efficient way of increasing production.
caption: Artificial insemination
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