Infertility is much more common than most people realize. An estimated 10 percent to 15 percent of couples wishing to conceive will have difficulty doing so. It is defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse. However, in certain circumstances — such as irregular cycles, history of pelvic infection, and history of toxin exposure such as radiation or chemotherapy, or advanced maternal age— it is prudent to seek help with an infertility specialist before one year.
When you’re exploring infertility treatment, it could be difficult to know where to start. Before taking the first step in your journey to become pregnant, it’s worth seeking out a good fertility clinic. Be meticulous in choosing your preferred treatment clinic as your choice goes a long way in determining your chances of achieving conception. Do some homework first. When it comes to choosing a clinic, do thorough research ahead of time.
The main symptom of infertility is failure to conceive after a year of unprotected sex. This is the point at which most doctors recommend seeking fertility care. For women over age 35 who did not conceive after 6 months of trying or who have irregular menstrual cycles, seeing a fertility doctor as soon as possible is recommended. Male infertility is just as common as female infertility, so it’s important that both partners be evaluated.
If you have not been able to get pregnant after about one year of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse, either you or your spouse may have a fertility problem. Concerns about being pregnant should not be ignored. Don’t wait. Consult a qualified medical doctor who will refer you to a specialist that will investigate the reason why pregnancy is not occurring.
If you have been trying to get pregnant for over a year you would generally be offered a test to check that you are ovulating. If these tests don’t reveal a problem, further tests are done to check that the fallopian tubes are not blocked.
Generally, fertility tests for women include a cervical smear test if she hasn’t had one recently, urine test for chlamydia, which can block the fallopian tubes, preventing pregnancy, and blood test for ovulation.
The man should also have sperm test checks for abnormalities as well as urine test for chlamydia, which, in addition to being a known cause of infertility in women, can also affect sperm function and male fertility. If one or both of have a condition that affects fertility more tests could be necessary.
Lifestyle can affect chances of conceiving significantly, particularly if you are a heavy smoker or overweight or underweight. In 15 per cent of cases, despite investigations, a clear cause of infertility is never established (unexplained infertility). Whatever the diagnosis, the clinician will explain the best treatment options that are available to you.
But if the tests reveal a possible fertility issue, especially if you are in your 30s or older, you may need to see a specialist for further tests.
Infertility evaluation sometimes involves uncomfortable procedures. Understanding your menstrual cycle can help increase your chances of conceiving, if you desire to become pregnant. Understand that your menstrual cycle begins with the first day of menstrual bleeding (the menstrual period).
Your body releases hormones that encourage maturation of eggs inside follicles of the ovaries. From the 2nd to 14th day of the cycle, these same hormones cause the lining of the uterus to thicken and prepare for implantation of a fertilized egg. These events are referred to as the follicular stage of the menstrual cycle.
Fertility for women relies on the ovaries releasing healthy eggs. The reproductive tract must allow an egg to pass into the fallopian tubes and join with sperm for fertilization. The fertilized egg must travel to the uterus and implant in the lining. Tests for female infertility try to find out if any of these processes are impaired.
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is any fertility treatment in which the egg and sperm are handled. There are several types of ART. In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most common ART technique. IVF involves stimulating and retrieving multiple mature eggs, fertilizing them with sperm in a dish in a lab, and transferring the embryos into the uterus several days after fertilization. It combines the egg and sperm in a laboratory, and can be an option when other treatments have failed.
Embryos created in the lab are placed inside your uterus. IVF involves hormone injections and a surgical procedure to retrieve eggs from you. Pregnancy rates per cycle range from 10 percent if you are aged 43 to 44 to 46 percent in women under 35. Several cycles of treatment may be necessary. In women who have poor egg quality, are older, or who have not had success with previous IVF cycles, they may choose to consider IVF with donor eggs and the partner’s sperm. The resulting baby is biologically related to the father and not the mother, although the mother carries the pregnancy. IVF using fresh embryos from donor eggs has a high success rate, resulting in live births 55 percent of the time.
When problems have been identified with the man’s sperm, a procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may be recommended along with IVF. This is a laboratory-assisted fertilization that involves inserting a single sperm directly into an egg. The embryos that form are transferred to the uterus in the same way as IVF embryos. Most IVF cycles now also use ICSI.
It’s untrue that simply waiting it out will put an end to infertility. Like other medical conditions, there are treatments available for those experiencing infertility. At least half of couples undergoing infertility treatments will conceive, and technologies such as in IVF have brought about many pregnancies.
Abayomi Ajayi
MD/CEO Nordica Fertility Centre
