Pregnancy Info

If you’re having difficulty getting pregnant, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re infertile. Infertility means different things to different people; it certainly means something different to doctors and to couples. Most couples who think they are infertile are only subfertile, and with help they do manage to conceive successfully.

What is Infertility?

Fertility isn’t always a straightforward case of being able, or unable, to conceive. A couple may have no difficulty in conceiving their first child but find they cannot get pregnant a second time; this is called secondary infertility. Another couple, who have both had children with previous partners, may now find that they cannot conceive together.

The fertility of a couple is the sum of their individual fertilities. If both partners have fertility problems, it may be hard for them to conceive. But if one partner’s fertility is strong, it may still be possible for the couple to conceive. Most couples do conceive within four to six months of trying. If a couple doesn’t manage to get pregnant after six months and they go to their doctor for advice, they’re likely to be told to go away, keep trying, and come back after a year if nothing happens.

Age is a factor for women. As a woman gets older, the quality of her eggs declines. Statistics show that about 90 percent of women in their twenties will become pregnant within a year of trying, and the rest still have a good chance of becoming pregnant naturally within another year or so. But women in their thirties have a much lower statistical probability of becoming pregnant after a year of trying. They shouldn’t wait any longer to get advice.

Ways in which a couple can be helped to conceive a child range from simple advice on sexual technique to drug treatment, surgery, and ultimately the new assisted reproductive technologies (ART). The help is there, but the investigation of infertility can try your patience and resolve. Whichever partner has the fertility problems may feel threatened and even guilty, so be prepared to be generous and supportive.

The Emotional Impact

Couples who are having problems conceiving may be having other difficulties, too. And if they do go ahead with treatment for infertility, they may find it very stressful-it can mean almost intolerable interference with their sex life and can even erode the love a couple feels for each other. The huge financial costs of investigation and treatment can also be a major source of stress. so it’s vital for both partners to be fully committed to this course of action.

Most couples see children as an extension of themselves, as someone to carry on the family name as well as an expansion of their hopes, aims, and ambitions. Being unable to have children can seem like a denial of basic human rights, and an infertile couple can experience feelings of injustice, great disappointment, and grief. The unfulfilled desire for children is a major crisis in the lives of some couples and can made them feel bad about all aspects of life, as well as depressed and guilty. One or both partners may become introspective and antisocial and the relationship may break down under the strain.

The Importance of Counseling

With all the tensions that surround the treatment of infertility, couples need and deserve sound psychological support. If you do decide to start on a course of investigation and treatment, ask your doctor to refer you to a counselor who can help you with the stress of infertility at all stages of its management. Don’t feel you have to wait until you find yourselves well into secondary referral; you need help and advice right from the start. Some procedures involve deep self-questioning, which strikes right at the heart of your relationship, and a couple will need a great deal of support. The treatment can also be lengthy and invasive, and there are many ethical issues surrounding assisted reproductive technologies, insemination, and the use of donors.

Psychological factors affecting fertility - The way you feel can in itself affect your fertility by causing a hormone disturbance or impotence. So without proper support, fertility treatment may make matters worse. On the other hand, doctors have plenty of anecdotal evidence that some couples suddenly conceive very soon after making the decision to have their infertility investigated. It’s as if making the decision to do something about the problem releases the psychological tensions that may have been stopping them from getting pregnant.

Unexlained Infertility

About 15 percent of couples suffering from fertility problems have to face the fact that their infertility cannot be explained. In those couples, it’s tempting to consider radical treatments, but experts generally agree that it’s best for them to wait for up to three years, depending on how old the woman is, to see if anything happens naturally. After this there are treatments that can be successful such as GIFT and intrauterine insemination as well as ovarian stimulation by FSH (follicle­Stimulating hormone).

Drug treatments with clomiphene, danazol, and bromocriptine are not effective. Investigation to find out whether there could be immunological factors involved may also be fruitful.