Infertility is the inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more,despite regular unprotected sexual intercourse.It is not an unconvenience,it is a disease.
INFERTILITY IS COMMON
INFERTILITY IS COMMON
- only 50% of couples conceive spontaneously 15% experience unwanted delay in conception
- 10% face the challenges of infertility
- 8% remain sub-fertile and require more complex treatment
- 4% remain involuntary childless
Infertility exists in most men and women.The rule of third applies to infertility:
one third of woman,one third of men and one third of both genders are both affected.Women aged more than 35 having irregular period,previous abdominal surgery or endometriosis are advised to see a doctor within 6 months.
FERTILITY ISSUES IN MALAYSIA
The total fertility rate in Malaysia has declined from 3.4 children per woman in 1991 to 3.0 in 2000 and has reached 2.1 in 2012.Delayed marriage,education of women and increased participation of women in the labor force have contributed to fertility decline.In the modern lifestyle,women are trying to conceive when they are older.However,after the age of 35,women's fertility decreases sharply and they are more likely to suffer miscarriages.
The question is why?This is because women are born with only 1-2 million eggs in their body.This is all they have,no new eggs will be produced in the future.Thus,the number of eggs reduces over time.By the time they have their first period,they only have 400 000-500 000 eggs left.When they reach menopause,they have almost no eggs.With age,quality of the eggs are also reduce,as there are higher chances of chromosomal abnormalities.Age also increases the risk of fibroids,endometriosis and irregular periods.Unhealthy living such as alcohol use,stress,being overweight or obese and drug abuse can lead to fertility problems in both men and women.
TREATING FERTILITY
Fertility can be treated with various technologies including
Now,there are new IVF technologies such as blastocyst culturing,cryotec freezing method,pre-implantation genetic screening and diagnosis and the last one is time lapse embryoscopy.
The question is why?This is because women are born with only 1-2 million eggs in their body.This is all they have,no new eggs will be produced in the future.Thus,the number of eggs reduces over time.By the time they have their first period,they only have 400 000-500 000 eggs left.When they reach menopause,they have almost no eggs.With age,quality of the eggs are also reduce,as there are higher chances of chromosomal abnormalities.Age also increases the risk of fibroids,endometriosis and irregular periods.Unhealthy living such as alcohol use,stress,being overweight or obese and drug abuse can lead to fertility problems in both men and women.
TREATING FERTILITY
Fertility can be treated with various technologies including
- timing of ovulation
- day care surgery
- intrauterine insemination (IUI)-the sperm is inserted into the uterus via the vagina
- in-vitro fertilization (IVF)-mixing the sperm and eggs in the laboratory and transferring the embryo into the uterus.
- in blastocyst culturing,a blastocyst (embryo at day 5)is transferred to the uterus.This can increase pregnancy rates and reduced multiple pregnancies like twins and triplets.
- the cryotec freezing method from Japan involves freezing of eggs ,sperms and embyos.This method has shown promising result.
- Using pre-implantation genetic screening and diagnosis,experts can screen embryos and identify chromosomal and gene disorders.Couples with genetic disorders such as thalassemia have better chances of having children free of this disorder.Time lapse embryoscopy allows for monitoring of embryos.
These are some ways to boost your fertility.So don't delay pregnancy,have more sex and maintain a healthy lifestyle.If nothing seems to work,choose your fertility clinic wisely!
Source :
DR TAN CHONG SEONG
(Obstetrician and Gynecologist Specialist)
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