When a couple is ready to get pregnant, it should be the happiest and easiest thing in the world. However, for a large majority of couples, getting pregnant is not so easy. There are a number of complications that can arise, either in the man or woman, that can make getting pregnant extremely problematic.
Infertility is the inability to get pregnant after 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse. About 50 million couple worldwide experience infertility. The numbers are rising as years pass by due to various factors.
It is frustrating when you realize that you need to take help for such a basic human function, reproduction. However, you are definitely not alone. There are thousands of couples who want to get over the phase from childlessness to parenthood as quickly as possible. This path may be easy for some and not so easy for some.
All the choices you make in life have a bearing on your health. Maintain appropriate weight, follow a healthy diet and exercise at least 5 times a week. Avoid smoking, drinking alcohol and limit caffeine intake to no more than 2 cups a day. Stress also contributes to infertility and miscarriages. Everybody has different stressors in life, it is important to find ways of dealing with it.
2. Understand the basic functioning of the reproductive system
The egg needs to be fertilized by a sperm to form an embryo and result in a pregnancy. The release of the egg from the ovary is called ovulation. This happens on day 13-15 of the cycle in women with a regular 28-day cycle. It is important to have intercourse around the time of ovulation. There are several ways to know when you are ovulating. You can use Urinary LH kits from day 12 of your cycle to detect the day of ovulation. Your fertility specialist can help you find out the most probable day of ovulation by the scan.
3. Visit a fertility specialist before it is too late
A fertility specialist is a doctor with special training in treating infertile couple. Not all Obstetrician & Gynaecologist have this training. It could be a fellowship or a Masters degree in Reproductive Medicine. If you have had 1 year of regular unprotected intercourse and not able to conceive, it is time to visit your fertility specialist.
4. Find the reason for infertility
About 30% of infertility is due to the female factor, 30% due to male factor, 30% due to a combination of male and female factors and 10% remain unexplained. So it is very important for the male and female partner to get evaluated simultaneously for infertility. Do not be afraid to get yourself evaluated. There is a solution to every problem, once the cause of the problem is identified.
5. Personalized fertility treatment
There are several treatment options available for subfertility. The most commonly offered fertility treatments include:
a. Ovulation Induction is medications used to induce ovulation
b. Intrauterine Insemination is the injection of processed sperms directly into the uterine cavity at the time of ovulation
c. IVF/ test tube baby where embryos are created in the lab from your egg and sperm and injected into the uterine cavity
It is not “one size fits all”. Everyone is unique. The treatment you may require is decided after thoroughly evaluating you and your partner and personalized treatment is offered.
Alcohol addiction can have a negative influence on both female and male fertility causing significant hurdles in their journey from infertility to fertility.
Infertility is a relatively common condition affecting one in 6 couples. Despite this, it remains a taboo. It affects the couple psychologically, economically and socially. They avoid meeting people as “children” will be a topic of conversation. Everybody you meet wants to suggest options. Seeing an infertility clinic is one of them. With the word “infertility clinic” many couples freak out.
Usually each month one ovary will be stimulated by hormones produced in the brain. These cause a small cyst or follicle to grow on the ovary in which an egg develops. Another hormone then causes the follicle to release one egg to travel down the fallopian tube where it can be fertilized by the sperm which swims up from the vagina. This usually occurs around 14 days after the beginning of a period but can vary between 11 – 16 days.
Infertility can affect women of any age and from any background. In fact, approximately one out of every seven couples trying to conceive today experience difficulties with infertility. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 12 percent of women in the U.S. ages 15 to 44 have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term. That’s nearly one in five women in the U.S. So it’s likely that you know someone struggling with infertility, whether they choose to share it or not.
