Infertility is a major health problem worldwide that has been encountered more during recent years. Clinically a couple is considered to be infertile after at least one year without contraception and without pregnancy. The average of 10 to 20 percent of couples suffers from infertility around the world. Thanks to many options existing today such as advanced reproductive technologies and adoption, most infertile couples are able to experience the joy of parenthood.
Infertility is a disease of the reproductive system that impairs one of the body’s most basic functions: the conception of children. Conception is a complicated process that depends upon many factors:
- The production of healthy sperm by the man and healthy eggs by the woman
- Unblocked fallopian tubes that allow the sperm to reach the egg
- The sperm’s ability to reach the egg
- The sperm’s ability to fertilize the egg when they meet
- The ability of the fertilized egg (embryo) to become implanted in the woman’s uterus
- A good quality embryo
For the pregnancy to continue to full term, the embryo must be healthy and the woman’s hormonal environment adequate for its development. When any one of these factors is impaired, infertility can result.
Roughly one-third of infertility cases can be attributed to male factors and another one-third to factors that affect women. For the remaining infertile couples, infertility is caused by a combination of problems in both partners (about 13%) or is unexplained (about 10%).
The most common male infertility factors include azoospermia (no sperm cells are produced) and oligospermia (few sperm cells are produced). Sometimes, sperm cells are malformed or they die before they can reach the egg. In rare cases, infertility in men is caused by a genetic disease such as cystic fibrosis or a chromosomal abnormality.
The most common female infertility factor is an ovulation disorder. Other causes of female infertility include blocked fallopian tubes, which can be caused by pelvic inflammatory disease or endometriosis. Repeated miscarriages may be caused by congenital anomalies (birth defects) involving the structure of the uterus and uterine fibroids.
Infertility treatments includes: