WHAT IS INFERTILITY
Infertility is the inability of a sexually active, non-contracepting couple to achieve spontaneous pregnancy in one year or 6months of women <35years ”, World Health Organization (WHO).
In Africa, when a couple is unable to conceive ,it is assumed to be the woman fault, hence a lot of couple remaining childless or access medical treatment after several years . lots of man assume that it is never their fault when there are no children in a marriage especially, if he has impregnated other women in the past.
About 15% of couples do not achieve pregnancy within one year and seek medical treatment for infertility. One in eight couples encounter problems when attempting to conceive a first child and one in six when attempting to conceive a subsequent child.
Three percent of women remain involuntarily childless, while 6% of parous
women are not able to have as many children as they would wish. Infertility affects both men and women.
In 50% of involuntarily childless couples, a male-infertility-associated factor is found together with abnormal
semen parameters. A fertile partner may compensate for the fertility problem of the man and thus infertility
usually manifests if both partners have reduced fertility.
A man might have impregnated a woman in the past before the condition set in or might have met a very fertile woman , hence his infertility was masked .
Male fertility can be reduced as a result of following:
- congenital or acquired urogenital abnormalities
- Malignancies; prostate cancer
- Urogenital tract infections, STI
- Increased scrotal temperature (e.g. as a consequence of varicocele
- Endocrine disturbances
- Genetic abnormalities;
- Immunological factors: this is a condition where your immune system sees your sperm as a foreign body hence fights against it.
- Habits: smoking, excessive alcohol
- occupation: work around heavy metals like oil workers, quarry, miners etc.
When a couple is unable to achieve conception in the first year of adequate sex, the first thing is for both partners to see a fertility specialist. not the woman alone, so that both partners can be examined and a solution reached.
In my years of practice as a Clinical Embryologist, I noticed that couple’s that access fertility treatment together achieved pregnancy faster than situations where the woman was alone ,because the female partner was emotionally stable due to the partners support.
Male fertility issues can be improved especially if it is not genetic or congenital, so couples should access treatment together, because it takes 2 to get pregnant .