Corrective vs. Bypass/Suppressive

Corrective care treats the cause of a health or fertility problem. It does not work around the problem, suppress it, or remove the organ.¹ One example is surgery to repair the fallopian tubes. Another is repair of a cesarean scar defect (isthmocele). Surgical removal (excision) of endometriosis and scar tissue is another. Hormone support for luteal phase deficiency, a weak second half of the cycle, is another. Antibiotics can clear chronic endometritis, a long-lasting infection of the uterine lining. For the male partner, surgery can repair a varicocele, a group of enlarged veins in the scrotum. Each one targets the cause. Bypass care works around the problem without treating it. IVF routes around a blocked tube and leaves the disease in place. Suppressive care quiets the symptom. Suppressive medications can ease endometriosis pain, but they do not remove the disease. Hysterectomy removes the organ entirely. When a corrective path exists, restorative reproductive medicine does not accept a bypass approach as the default. The same holds for suppressive and organ-removing approaches.²