Infertility

Is Infertility Really A Problem?

Many people know how easy it is to become pregnant when it’s not planned, but when it is planned and succeeds, there is no greater joy. Becoming a parent changes your life for the better. The difficulty comes in when you try to conceive on a regular basis and are not successful or if you do become pregnant but don’t carry to full term – then it’s stressful – this is infertility.

Most of the couples inability to become pregnant lie with the female partner. Although there are a variety of causes for infertility, more than 50% are a result of problems with the complexity of the female condition. A minority of the causes is due to low sperm count in men and the rest are just unexplained causes unrelated to either parent. If a women’s body does not menstruate properly, it will be difficult to become pregnant. The most common cause is problems related to ovulation. There are other issues that prevent a woman from becoming pregnant, including uterine problems, tube blockage, and previous ligation, which can cause infertility.

Another issue with woman is age which can effect the fertility. As a woman ages over time, the ability to naturally conceive is reduced increasingly with the normal aging process. The fact is that on average, women lose about 1000 eggs each month. Plus, conditions like polycystic ovary disease (PCOS), endometriosis or certain sexually transmitted diseases can have an adverse affect on a woman’s ability to conceive. As time goes by it becomes worse and leads to infertility.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is a pelvic inflammation this is very serious. It is caused by cervical infections that have been left untreated. Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and other infections need to be treated right away before they cause permanent damage. If left untreated, scarring occurs that block fallopian tubes as bacteria moves into up into the uterus and into the fallopian tubes, ovaries and nearby tissues. In vitro fertilization can help in these cases after treatment for the pelvic inflammatory disease has been effected.

Now, as mentioned above, polycystic ovarian syndrome is one of the leading causes of infertility. Because it is a hormonal disorder, PCOS interrupts normal ovulation cycle in women and this irregularity in ovulation or complete inability to ovulate is the cause of infertility in women with PCOS. There are medications such as Metformin and other drugs that treat PCOS by helping the body to absorb insulin and thereby re-adjusting hormone levels.

There are many hormones produced by various glands that can be affected by irregular levels and can lead to infertility. Whether it is the hypothalamus, pancreas, ovaries, testes and the pituitary, adrenal or thyroid glands, it doesn’t matter since any one can add to complications of pregnancy. If any of these glands are affected by disease, that too can to a women’s inability to conceive as well. Hormone levels are one of the first things to be checked if a couple is having a hard time conceiving.

Medical conditions aside, there are lifestyle choices made by couples that can also be considered causes of infertility. If you are a smoker, consume illegal drugs or other substances, drink alcohol heavily, STD’s, weight problems, or too much stress from everyday life, or even exercise are all factors to consider in the cause of infertility

If getting pregnant doesn’t happen quickly, many couples become stressed which only adds to the problem. Often doctors cannot find any specific infertility indicators after examining both the woman and the man. Since these are unknown factors, they are considered as unexplained infertility. More often than not, the man and woman need to reduce the stress levels and understand all the causes of infertility as well as the best time and conditions during the ovulation period in which to attempt conception. Reducing that stress is the best method for unexplained infertility.