The main problem, according to obstetrician, gynaecologist and fertility specialist Dr. Jean Woo is that most couples wait too long. "After a year of trying, it`s time to consider seeing a doctor to find out whether something is wrong," she advises. "Better sooner than later." Dr. Woo says that women should ideally begin families in their 20`s; between the ages of 30 and 35, it`s still possible, but the news is not good after 35. "Women really should not be beginning families at that point, they shoul be wrapping them up." With the sociological trend these days of women marrying and starting families in their 30`s, Dr.Woo`s advice to see the doctor after a year of getting nowhere is even more pertinent. Lifestyle factors like smoking and drinking also play a big part in fertility. Strangely enough, while cigarettes and alcohol affect fertility in both sexes, they affect men to a greater degree. In women, ovulation is affected, in men it`s the sperm count. Men with a low sperm count are considered subfertile. Sometimes, all it takes for a couple to get lucky is a smoke- free and drink-free lifestyle (if not forever, at least till the anticipated bundle of joy makes its presence known). Most couples who have difficulty conceiving find it hard to come to terms with the idea that they may be infertile. The subject is taboo, mostly because it conjures up feelings of failure and inadequacy. Infertility as described by doctors is the inability to conceive after at least one year of trying. Statistically, it works out that a fertile couple in their mid 20`s having regular sex have a one in four chance of conceiving each month; nine out of 10 couples trying for a baby will conceive within a year. One in ten will not - these are infertile or subfertile couples. In most cases the cause of infertility can be pinpointed: in around 40% of instances it is caused by the female, with male infertility amounting to another 40%. About 20% of cases however, remain unexplained. Couples who resort to assisted conception, have to start with a variety of tests to determine the cause of infertility. These tests will assess ovulation, the quality of the fallopian tubes and hormone levels in women and sperm production in men.
Medical breakthroughs throughout the past century and on into the present, have now made what would have been inconceivable - the notion of an infertile couple conceiving their own child, not only conceivable but indeed very probable............COMMON CAUSES OF MALE INFERTILITY
- A low sperm count : men usually produce 20 million sperm per mm of semen ; fewer is considered subfertile
- Poor sperm motility : the sperm is unable to swim through the cervix to meet the egg in the fallopian tube
- Poor morphology (shape) : the individual sperm is unable to penetrate the outer layer of an egg
- Non production of sperm / complete absence of sperm
- Coital difficulties : impotence or inablility to ejaculate
- Hormonal disorders : egg follicles may not grow within the ovary or ovulation does not occur
- Damaged or blocked fallopian tubes : prevent an egg and sperm meeting
- Endometriosis : womb tissue invades and damages neighbouring reproductive tissue
- Excessively thick cervical mucus which prevents sperm passing through
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