Unfortunately, there are more and more cases of infertility in both men and women, or in both members of the couple. In these cases the fertility techniques help many couples with fertility problems to achieve their dream of being parents. The possible causes of male and female infertility they are many and varied. Let's see what they can be.
What is infertility?
Infertility is the difficulty in achieving or maintaining a pregnancy. The causes can be various, both in men and women. Some are reversible and some are not. If, after a year of sexual intercourse, pregnancy has not been achieved (6 months in the case of women over 35 years old), tests should be carried out to detect if there are any fertility problems.
Knowing if there is or not and the causes, we can find a solution to achieve the desired pregnancy. 40% of fertility problems are male, 40% female and the remaining 20% combined fertility problems. Let's see what the causes of male and female infertility can be.
Possible causes of female infertility
- Absence of ovulation. Without mature eggs it is impossible to get pregnant.
- endometriosis.
- Obesity or underweight.
- Advanced age. Age is a handicap for women, since our reproductive stage is lower than that of men.
- Presence of fibroids (benign tumors in the uterus).
- Fallopian tube problems.
- Hormonal problems The thyroid affects hormones which in turn affect fertility. Hormones need to be at adequate levels for the menstrual cycle to facilitate conception.
- Antibodies against eggs or sperm.
- Precocious menopause. In some cases, some women experience menopause too early, making pregnancy difficult or impossible.
- Genetic malformations in the reproductive system.
- Predisposition to have ovarian cysts or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
- Poor quality of the ovules.
- Shape of the uterus that makes it difficult to implant the fertilized egg.
Possible causes of male infertility
- Low sperm count (oligospermia).
- Null sperm count (azospermia).
- Little or no sperm motility (asthenospermia). If they don't swim well, they won't be able to reach the egg to fertilize it.
- Malformations in spermatoizoids (teratospermia).
- Varicose veins in the scrotum. They are called varicoceles. They increase the temperature in the testicles which weakens the quality of the sperm.
- Being exposed to toxic or dangerous substances.
- Having had chlamydia, mumps, or gonorrhea.
- Excess or defect of any hormone involved in the production of sperm (testosterone or gonadotropins).
- Being overweight or extremely thin. Being overweight or, on the contrary, being below average weight affects fertility in men.
- Bad nutrition.
- Infections
- Anomalies in the sperm ducts.
Infertility, an increasingly common problem
As you can see, the causes are various and there are many more that are involved in both male and female infertility. Must analyze each couple specifically to find out what is really the cause or causes to remedy it. There are even cases where there seems to be no problem but the pregnancy has not just arrived. For these cases, science is fortunately more advanced every day, which benefits couples who cannot have children naturally.
In cases where pregnancy cannot be achieved, there are assisted reproductive techniques. You can make a insemination or an in vitro fertilization treatment. For the most serious cases of male infertility, CSII can be performed, which consists of choosing a sperm and inserting it directly into the egg. Each case should be reviewed with your doctors to see the causes and possible solutions.
If you know someone close to you who has fertility problems, don't miss the article "What not to say to a couple with fertility problems". Many times, because we want to help and with our best intention, we use phrases that more than help aggravate the discomfort and suffering of these couples.
Because remember ... it does not matter who has the problem since the problem belongs to the couple, not the one who suffers the cause.