Reproduction is a major aspect of all living things, and this certainly includes human beings. Today, many doctors specialize in infertility procedures at fertility clinics, such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. Patients may visit these clinics if they are having trouble conceiving a child with their partner, and any number of issues may be causing their fertility problems. Such patients may expect a variety of exams and testing, and they may choose IVF treatment, or in vitro fertilization. This may involve some paperwork, such as iVF insurance, and patients may consult their healthcare insurance companies where IVF insurance is concerned. If paperwork such as IVF insurance is covered, and the patients find a treatment method that seems best for them, they may boost their chances for a successful pregnancy, one way or another. What might cause such pregnancy issues?
Problems with Child Bearing
Men and women may suffer from a variety of health issues that interfere with their capacity to conceive a child or carry it to term successfully. Statistics are kept to see how often men and women alike have trouble with conception, and the number show that this is a fairly common issue. Around 7.4 million women in the United States today, or 11.9% of them, have ever received some form of infertility services during their lifetime, and 12% of married women have had trouble getting pregnant or sustaining their pregnancy. That figures out to one in eight man-woman couples today. Around 44% of American women who have had fertility issues have sought medical care, including paperwork such as IVF insurance, and around 65% of them have successfully given birth as a result. Other studies show that women in their early 20s experience peak fertility, and these numbers drop off soon after. A woman’s fertility starts a slow decline at age 30, and drops off even faster after 35. By age 40, only two in five women who want to conceive will be able to.
Women may have trouble conceiving a child due to their lifestyle such as drug or tobacco use, which are known to harm fertility. Ongoing and constant stress, such as due to financial issues, may also lower a woman’s fertility. In other cases, physical issues such as the ovaries failing to release an oocyte (egg cell) may interfere, or a zygote may implant itself on the fallopian tube rather than the uterine lining to form the placenta. This will almost certainly cause the pregnancy to fail and may call for surgery to correct.
Men sometimes have trouble with fertility as well. Like women, they may suffer fertility issues if they use drugs or tobacco or if they suffer ongoing stress in their lives. Meanwhile, blunt trauma to the testicles may harm his fertility, as may radiation exposure to the testicles. In fact, some men suffer from genetic issues that result in a low sperm count or irregularly shaped sperm, hampering those sperm cells’ capacity to reach the egg cell and fertilize it.
Fertility Treatments
Concerned man-woman couples may visit fertility clinics to get a diagnosis, and thus a treatment, of their problem. In one in three such cases, the woman’s health is the issue, and in another third of cases, the problem is with the man’s health. The last third of cases are due to unknown reasons. At this clinic, the man and/or woman may undergo tests and exams, and this may lead to a variety of diagnoses and just as many treatment options. For example, in vitro fertilization, or IVF, may be done. This entails stimulating the woman’s reproductive organs to release an egg cell, then extracting it and placing it in a test tube with liquid inside. A sperm sample is used from the man to fertilize it, and the fertilized zygote may be placed in the woman’s body to continue the pregnancy. This is related to artificial insemination.
In other cases, the woman may be unable to carry the pregnancy herself, and thus a surrogate mother is used. This entails implanting the couple’s fertilized egg in a volunteer woman’s own uterus and allow the pregnancy to come to term in her body instead.