Infertility is defined as
the inability to conceive after trying for a year or more by having unprotected
sex. Infertility is a common problem among both, men and women. Approximately
6% of women ages 15 to 44 years old do not conceive after a year of trying and
in 8% of couples who suffer from infertility the man is the issue in
conceiving. Several issues can lead to infertility, the most common issue in
women is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome a condition that causes a woman not to
ovulate at all or irregularly. The most common issue in men is Varicoceles a
condition that is caused by the veins of a man’s testicles being larger than
average causing excess heat which then affects the number and shape of the
sperm. Those are just the two most common, there are many other issues that
cause a person to be infertile such as hormonal and genetic disorders among men
and fallopian tube obstruction, and abnormal uterine contour among women. There
are, however, other circumstanced that can lead couples to believe they are
infertile such as women who have issues getting pregnant and carrying a
pregnancy to full term. This condition is called impaired fecundity and it
affects approximately 12% of women ages 15 to 44. Infertility is important
because there is no cure and for those who want children in the future they can
take precautions to preserve their fertility. Doctors can treat infertility
with medicine, surgery, intrauterine insemination or assisted reproductive
technology as a last resort but even going to that extent doesn’t work for some
couples. That is why this topic applies to myself and my classmates. We have
the opportunity to educate ourselves in ways to prevent infertility. Some of
these ways include not smoking, drinking an excessive amount, gaining or losing
excessive amounts of weight, waiting to have children over 35 years old, etc.
There are many other factors such as having protected sex to decrease the
chances of an STI or STD, along with decreasing the amount of physical and
emotional stress we are under. By educating ourselves now we can take the steps
to preserve our chances of reproducing in the future.
References
Centers for Disease
Control. (2017). Reproductive health. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/infertility/index.htm
I appreciate you taking the time to write about this subject, as it is something that is largely not talked about in social situations. It is interesting that you included the male aspect of infertility, as it is mostly only women that are brought up in the conversation (because, you know, fertilization happens there, therefore it *has* to be her fault, right??). I'm a little confused about your statement regarding the permanency of infertility, because I know of many cases where women deemed "infertile" due to PCOS ended up carrying a pregnancy to term. Is there any reasoning behind this or just dumb luck? Again, great article!!
ReplyDeleteTypically a woman that has PCOS needs medical help to conceive so they are still deemed infertile because they can't do it completely natural. There are, however, exceptions because some women with PCOS can get pregnant naturally. PCOS is a complicated diagnoses because women often have different issues that lead to the diagnoses. Getting pregnant evolves around ovulation and a big factor with ovulation is the persons weight. Often times women with PCOS tend to be over weight which decreases the odds of infertility even more as it would with anyone. But if the woman is physically fit her chances of conceiving increase. So you could say that conceiving after that diagnosis is just dumb luck but there are some women that take the time to become healthy in all aspects in order to increase their odds of fertility and there are a lot of women who are misdiagnosed with PCOS.
Deletehey once again good post. I don't think we always realize how many things can effect our ability to reproduce. I like that you suggested some of the things that could we can do to protect our sexual health and increase our chances of a healthily pregnancy. I know personally before I had my first child that infertility was something that I feared even as a young adult. I knew I wanted children but I also knew there were some people that are not able to conceive or that have real struggles conceiving. thank you for sharing the importance of taking care of ones self and providing insight to some of the factors that are not always known.
ReplyDeleteI find it so interesting how having an std can lower your fertility rate and that's so saddening. I know women who experience thins go through hell and feel depressed once they find it hard to conceive. I hope I never endure this.
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