Egg Donation
Overview: Female Infertility
Female Infertility: If the woman is more than 35 years old, and has been trying unsuccessfully for more than 6 months, further consultation regarding investigation and treatment should be considered rather than waiting for a year. If the female has a history of gynecological problems, or if it is known that the partner has a low sperm count, they should not delay seeing a specialist regarding the fertility status. Women who are 40 years and over are advised to begin investigation and treatment after 3 months of trying.
Pregnancy depends on many factors: Female Infertility
- Ovulation and the production of healthy eggs – Ovulation is the development and release of an egg from a women’s ovary. This occurs once in the menstrual cycle usually about 14 days before the end of the cycle. This is the fertile time for a woman
- The ability of eggs to travel through the tubes to reach the sperm.
- Enough healthy sperm being produced – Sperm take about 64 days to develop and are produced in the testes. Sperm is expelled in seminal fluid on ejaculation. There may be 100 million sperms produced at ejaculation though relatively few, i.e. several hundred, will reach the fallopian tubes.
- Sperm being able to travel through the cervix to reach the egg.
- The sperm’s ability to fertilize the egg-which can be dependent on the number of sperm produced and the quality of the sperm. By quality we mean such things as the sperm’s motility (ability to move forward) and shape.
- A fertilized egg becoming a healthy embryo.
- Successful implantation of the embryo in the uterus
What is Male Infertility and what should you know about it?
Infertility is a condition and not a disease. A couple is said to be Infertile if they fail to conceive even after having unprotected sexual intercourse continuously for one year. Couples who fail to conceive after a year should see the doctor for some kind of intervention. It is a fact that male and female have an equal contribution in a couple’s infertility and both should undergo testing before starting treatment.
Is Your Sperm Fertile? Are You Concerned?
Increasing environmental pollution, altered lifestyle habits & with enormous stress are you sure your sperm is fertile enough? Added to this you will find articles everywhere with varying conclusions which confuse you further. This brochure justifies the need for a basic semen testing and also highlights the recent advancements in diagnosing infertility in men.
Why should I see a doctor? It is my wife who is not conceiving, hence she should be tested!!!!
Well, this is the common myth among every one. It is a fact that male and female have an equal contribution in a couple’s infertility and both should undergo testing before starting treatment.
We are trying for a baby since last 6 months with no luck? Am I Infertile? When should I see the doctor?
Remember it takes on average a year or more for a woman to conceive so not getting pregnant straight away is normal. A couple is said to be Infertile if they fail to conceive even after having unprotected sexual intercourse continuously for one year. Couples who fail to conceive after a year should see the doctor for some kind of intervention.
How do I know if my semen sample is good enough to father a child?
Along with semen analysis there are certain specialized functional tests like sperm vitality, Hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test, Acrosome Intactness Index (AI), Nuclear chromatin decondensation test (NCD), sperm DNA fragmentation Index (DFI), Reactive oxygen species (ROS) assessment in semen help us to predict the fertilizing ability of sperm.
My semen analysis reports and my partner’s reports are normal, but we are still not conceiving? Is test tube baby procedure the only resort?
As discussed above semen analysis alone is not helpful in diagnosing a couple with infertility. Semen analysis along with the sperm functional tests will give us a better understanding of the sperms fertilizing ability and this helps the clinician to select a suitable modality of treatment. Recent research has proven that DNA fragmentation Index (DFI) & Reactive oxygen species assessment (ROS) assessment have got a significant prognostic role in management of male infertility. Test tube baby procedure or IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) is always used as a last resort and is never the first choice to be considered.