For those who consider parenting to be something that makes marriage a real bliss, infertility can be devastating. And it is only they who understand the desperation that needs to be undergone to end this endless wait of having their own child and bringing home their bundle of joy.
Childlessness can be traumatic for both genders. For some couples, this becomes one of the biggest hurdles to their marital life. However, infertility is not something incorrigible or inexorable. Rather, a lot of it depends on our own life styles.
Therefore, if it is infertility that is making you feel hopeless and miserable, curving out a solution is the only way out. So how do you go about that?
A journey from infertility to fertility requires a complete know how about the situation and factors that disturb male and female fertility on an elemental level. In India, lack of sufficient awareness related to reproductive health, does not allow patients to opt for infertility treatment measures that are easily available.
Thus, today’s post discusses every aspect related to infertility; including fertilization, to causes that hinder it. Symptoms of male and female infertility have been discussed at length. You may also understand remedial measures that treat problems related to poor fertile health.
What does it mean to be infertile?
Infertility refers to disrupted reproductive health conditions relating to both females and males, whereby a couple is not able to have a child of their own. For a woman, infertility is a condition where she is not being able to conceive after frequent unprotected sexual contacts; or when she is not being able to pass through a successful pregnancy and thus suffers from repeated miscarriages.
In males, infertility is the lack of potential to contribute towards a successful conception after regular sexual interactions with fertile female partners. However, it needs to be noted that a few failures in conception or some unsuccessful pregnancies, does not make an individual infertile.
A couple is said to be infertile only when the female partner fails to conceive after 12 months of repeated unprotected sex trials. Both male and female reproductive health status contributes towards the fertility quotient of couples. The following section discusses few of the causes in brief.
Female Infertility – What are the common causes?
Female reproductive health is a vast and comprehensive subject, and there can be a lot of parameters governing it. The following are few of the causes that can make HER infertile:
- Hormonal imbalance that leads to polycystic ovary syndrome disrupting ovulation. Polycystic ovary syndrome increases the risk of ovarian cancer, which can be treated by ovarian cancer surgery. Ovarian cancer surgery can cause temporary or permanent infertility in female.
- Physical or emotional stress that causes absence of periods, a condition medically termed as amenorrhea
- Failure of ovaries to produce healthy eggs needed for the ovarian reserve. Multiple reasons relating to medical, surgical or genetic factors may lead to reduced ovarian reserve.
- Early menopause is one of the important causatives. Menopause is a natural phenomenon only when it occurs at the perfect age. You may learn about menopause here.
- Problems relating to the cervical canal, that hinders normal and healthy sperms from reaching the ova
- Development of uterine polyps that results in abnormal uterine lining
Male infertility – What are the common causes?
Male infertility relates to problems of sperm generation and/or successful transmission of sperms that finally land an ovum to fertilize. Now there can be number of reasons that may lead to any of these conditions, making one infertile. Let’s see a few of the common causes:
- Healthy sperm production can get affected by chromosomal and genetic defects
- Improper or complete failure of testes descend during birth
- Abnormal twisting of testes within scrotum. This medical condition is known as Torsion
- Prostate diseases and infections can cause male infertility
Conditions that can bring about erection and ejaculation problems can ultimately lead to male infertility. Spinal cord injuries, prostate cancer surgery to treat prostate cancer are some of the conditions that can lead to erectile dysfunction.
Symptoms common to Female infertility:
- Irregular or abnormal periods is the first sign of probable infertility
- Unbearable back and pelvic pain before, during or after periods
- Changes on your skin surface
- Lack of libido
- Thinning hair line
- Unexplained weight gain
- Excessive pain during sexual intercourse
- Discharge from your nipples that is usually colorless or sometimes white
Symptoms common to Male infertility:
- Change or difference in hair growth pattern, that is usually declining
- Lack of libido
- Swelling of testicles
- Unusual small testicles that are somewhat firm
- Excessive pain around testicles
- Unexplained failures of erection and ejaculation
- Gynecomastia. However, this condition can have several other causatives.
- Decreased sperm count. This is detectable only after a sperm analysis test.
Vast Treatment Options For Infertility – Males and Females:
In India, infertility has been the biggest reason behind failed marriages. However, this is a condition that can be easily treatable with either medication or surgery. Couples therefore need to opt for these easily available remedies instead of taking some unfortunate and drastic decisions.
Below mentioned are few of the treatment options for infertility in males and females:
Infertility treatments for woman:
Medication: Infertility options relating to troubled ovulation, cystic growth etc. are first addressed with medications. Depending on your doctor’s investigation, you will be prescribed medicines and hormone therapy.
Tubal Surgery: Tubal surgery refers to fallopian surgeries that removes blockage within the fallopian tubes. Any obstruction within these tubes hinders sperm transportation and thus fertilization. Therefore, surgical removal of the blockage is opted to have a seamless transfer of sperms that ultimately fertilize an egg leading to conception.
IVF (In vitro fertilization): In vitro fertilization or IVF is the most effective solution for infertility when all other remedies fail to produce a desired result. IVF in India is very much available with different hospitals across the country; however, people remain in a state of fear and confusion when it comes at opting for IVF treatments.
Therefore, if in any case you happen to be someone who has been asked to undergo an IVF and still not very sure about how to go about it, we have something useful for you. You may learn about IVF procedure along with some myth busters and success rates here. This should help you to prepare well for the procedure that guarantees result.
Infertility treatments for Men:
Medication: Males suffering from infertility problems will be ordered a Semen analysis test. This will help your doctor to understand sperm count, mobility and other parameters related to overall sperm health. Once a comprehensive diagnosis is made, doctors will suggest medications that will enhance sperm health.
Surgery: Conditions that lead to sperm blockage and thus reduced fertility, essentially require surgical remedies. Varicocele conditions also require surgical solutions.
Sperm retrieval: Failed conception due to low or poor sperm count and ejaculation require IVF treatments where healthy sperms are collected and cultured under laboratory conditions, that are artificially inseminated. This procedure is known as Sperm retrieval.
Who are at the highest risk of infertility?
The following wrong life style choices, make individuals prone to infertility and therefore need to be avoided:
- Use of tobacco and high alcohol consumption
- Wrong use of drugs
- Uncontrolled weight
- Conditions that lead to overheating of testicles
- Tumors, cancer growth, sickle cell anemia
- Past pelvic, abdominal or vasectomy surgeries
- Radiation therapy for cancer treatments
- With age there is a comparative decline of fertility
- Any form of Sexually transmitted infections
Thus, infertility in both males and females can be easily treated if proper measures are opted at the right time. In addition, individuals should also know that infertility treatments such as the common IVF procedures are not hugely expensive. These are rather cost effective and available with most health care and fertility centers across states in India.
Many couples opt for surrogacy where a different uterus is used for providing healthy growth conditions for a fertilized egg. Unlike the common belief that surrogacy uses the sperm of the father while the egg remains of the surrogate mother, IVF treatment options offer surrogacy where both the egg and sperm belong to the couple involved in the treatment method. It is only the uterus that is being used of the surrogate mother in cases where the concerned mother has a weak or faulty uterus beyond cure.
However, if treatments are available where the couples can themselves undergo IVF procedure without surrogacy, it definitely needs to be opted for. Therefore, this was all about a brief understanding of infertility and how you can fight it back.