Infertility which means difficulty in conceiving a pregnancy affects 10% of all couples trying to achieve a pregnancy. The pressure to achieve a pregnancy soon after marriage is very strong in our society.
The couple therefore gets stressed if pregnancy is not achieved within 3-4 months of marriage. They soon go and seek help either sometimes medical or very often astrological or visit their family priest. However, few couple knows that most ‘normal’ couples may takes up to a year to conceive.
However, a subgroup of patients needs intervention and treatment earlier, like known polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis and male factor infertility.
The cause of infertility could be either tubal, endometrial, ovarian or male factor. There are specific investigative and treatment modalities available for each of these causes. However, awareness of these treatment modalities is very few amongst the masses. Many go to quacks that ‘treat’ them for months and sometimes years with no avail. Some go to astrologers and pandits who ‘treat’ them by asking them to wear expensive rings, eat certain food items, etc.
Not only do these patients lose money, they also lose precious time.
This is so because as the lady grows older, the number and quality of her eggs goes down and chances of conception even with the technologically advanced techniques like IVF fail.
It is very important first to diagnose why a couple is not able to get pregnant. For those with severe tubal block and very low sperm count IVF is the only solution.
There are other treatment modalities available for specific conditions like laparoscopic cystectomy and ovarian drilling for endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome respectively; super ovulation and intrauterine insemination for endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome and mild male factor problem. It is imperative that both the masses and general practitioners are aware of such treatment modalities and people can seek the right medical advice at the right time and realize their dream of having a child of their own.