Infertility Therapies Health Article

Definition

Infertility is the inability of a man and a woman to conceive a child through sexual intercourse. There are many possible reasons for the problem, which can involve the man, the woman, or both partners. Various treatments are available that enable a woman to become pregnant; the correct one will depend on the specific cause of the infertility.

Purpose

Infertility treatment is aimed at enabling a woman to have a baby by treating the man, the woman, or both partners. During normal conception of a child, the man's sperm will travel to the woman's fallopian tubes, where, if conditions are right, it will encounter an egg that has been released from the ovary. The sperm will fertilize the egg, which will enter the uterus where it implants and begins to divide, forming what's called an embryo. The embryo will develop during pregnancy into a baby.

Infertility treatment attempts to correct or compensate for any abnormalities in this process that prevent the fertilization of an egg or development of an embryo.

Precautions

It's important for a couple contemplating infertility treatment to examine their own ideas and feelings about the process and consider ethical objections before the woman becomes pregnant from such treatment.

Description

About 90% of women who are trying to get pregnant and use no birth control will do so within one year. If after one year of having frequent sexual intercourse with no contraception a couple has not conceived, they should seek the advice of a physician. Tests can be performed to look for possible infertility problems.

Treating an underlying infection or illness is the first step in infertility treatment. The physician may also suggest improving general health, dietary changes, reducing stress, and counseling.

Low sperm count treatments

The most common cause of male infertility is failure to produce enough healthy sperm. For fertilization to happen, the number of sperm cells in the man's semen (the fluid ejected during sexual intercourse) must be sufficient, and the sperm cells must have the right shape, appearance, and activity (motility).

Defects in the sperm can be caused by an infection resulting from a sexually transmitted disease, a blockage caused by a varicose vein in the scrotum (varicocele), an endocrine imbalance, or problems with other male reproductive organs (such as the testicles, prostate gland, or seminal vesicles).

If a low sperm count is the problem, it's possible to restore fertility by:

• treating underlying infections
• timing sex to coincide with the time the woman is ovulating, which means that the egg is released from the ovary and is beginning to travel down the fallopian tube (the site of fertilization)
• having sex less often to build up the number of sperm in the semen
• treating any endocrine imbalance with drugs
• having a surgical procedure to remove a varicocele (varicocelectomy)