When a couple faces difficulty getting pregnant, they naturally investigate the facts about fertility and fertility treatments. First, know that infertile and sterile mean different things. A woman with an infertility diagnosis may undergo fertility treatments to encourage healthy egg production, and then harvest those eggs. A sterile man, however, cannot undergo procedures to reverse this fact, unless his sterility came from an elective procedure called a vasectomy. Doctors can surgically reverse a vasectomy so the individual can father children.
First Steps in Addressing Infertility
If you’ve had problems conceiving a child, visit your general practitioner (GP) as a couple. Explain the situation and ask for help in diagnosing the issue. Under most circumstances, your GP will provide a referral to an infertility specialist conversant in matters of male virility and female conception. Obtaining this referral can sometimes ensure that your insurance covers the visit to a specialist.
Exploring Your Options
The infertility specialist you visit may suggest many treatment options or workarounds. If the male of the couple test infertile, the doctor may recommend using a fertility bank to obtain the sperm of a person who physically resembles the male partner, and whose education and career choices mirror his. Doing so ensures that the child will resemble both members of the couple.
Avoid Laying Blame
If you and your significant other are facing infertility, it’s natural to experience emotions of sadness, frustration, anger, shame, and even hopelessness. However, the inability to conceive is a common problem for many couples. In fact, it may be more common than you think. One in eight couples, or 12 percent of married women, have difficulty getting pregnant or maintaining a full term pregnancy.
What causes infertility? Approximately one third of instances of infertility are attributed to the female partner, one third attributed to the male partner, and the remaining third is a result of a combination of pre-existing problems with both partners or is simply unexplained. Some infertility cases can be attributed to age, as a woman’s ability to conceive begins to decline around the age of 30. By the age of 40, only 2 in five women who wish to have a child are able to do so.
Luckily however, infertility treatments can help couples achieve their dreams of parenthood. There are a variety of infertility procedures available, including artificial insemination and ivf treatments. What is ivf and how can it help couples conceive? IVF or in vitro fertilization is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART). During IVF, fertilization is done manually by combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish, and then transferring the embryo to the uterus for implantation. This is a highly successful treatment that gives many couples the ability to conceive.
What is ivf? Many couples consider it the beginning of achieving their goal of parenthood.
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