Sunday, June 15, 2014

Understanding Infertility And Its Treatment

By Barbara Patridge


If a woman is unable to carry a baby till the end of pregnancy period or an individual is unable to produce an offspring, they are termed as infertile. Infertility has many causes and its prevalence has been on the rise since 1980. It can be natural or medically induced.

There can either be primary or secondary sterility. Primary barrenness refers to that which comes naturally and such a couple has and may never conceive. Secondary type relates to this condition occurring after the first conception. These two levels refer to only a specific couple at a specific time.

The prevalence of this condition has been rampant across the world. Firstly, approximately six per cent of the couples, especially women, suffer from this problem and it is still unresolved. About a seventh of all couples may be victims of this shortcoming. It is generally accepted that women become infertile with aging. Sometimes it is difficult to establish the source of sterility between the man and the woman.

Several factors may cause barrenness in either sex, for instance, damage of the DNA, genetic factors such as Robertsonian translocation in one of the partners, general factors like diabetes mellitus and thyroid disorders, hypothalamic-pituitary factors like hypopituitarism and environmental factors which include toxins, chemical dusts and tobacco smoking.

In females, sterility may be caused by blocking of the oviduct due to malfunctioning, infections such as Chlamydia and growth of a scar tissue, inability to ovulate, being overweight and underweight, age and uterine complications. In males, sterility is caused by low semen quality, low sperm count, testicular malformations, hormonal imbalance and blockage of the duct system.

Treatment of barrenness is relative to the cause of the same. This may be in form of counseling and fertility treatments. A couple may use an at-home conception kit and assisted natural conception. Clinically, victims are given fertility medication in form of medical surgery or a medical device, in vitro fertilization and other technologically assisted reproductive techniques. Other medical techniques include tuboplasty and assisted hatching. One can also adopt medical tourism which involves them travelling to other countries for treatment.

Emergent ethical issues in this complication include the costly nature of therapies and medication, exemption of the same in insurance packages, the argument that facilities used to treat the defect could be used in better alternative services, people being against destruction of the embryo, many cases of premature and multiple births as well as the fact that these problem is likely to be transmitted to offspring.

There are both psychological and social implications of unproductiveness. To the victim, there may be anxiety in marriage, depression, disunity, negative attitude to parenthood, losing an anticipated life and emotional stress. Socially, there is stigma in community, marital break ups, deviation from religion, rejection and difficulties in drawing inheritance rights.

In developing countries, barrenness is a major source of shame to an individual, couple or family since children are a major source of societal dignity and the assurance of continued income generation for the couple. It follows that there will be stigma to those affected.




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