Infertility is a sensitive topic for both men and women. The lack of ability to reproduce or conceive a child can devastate a person and his or her partner and even ruin their relationship. While for men, the cause of infertility is usually low semen quality, women are actually infertile most of the time, as they are naturally fertile only before and during the ovulation. The causes of infertility in women can be more complicated and more widespread than those of their male counterparts.
Female infertility
In a world that seems to be in a contraception frenzy, it is amazing how many things could actually stop a woman from being fertile. For her to conceive, she has to have intercourse, unprotected of course, during the time when an ovary releases an egg. Simple, yes? No. This could easily be sabotaged by her age, weight or unbalanced hormones. In some cases, the ovaries aren't mature and do not release eggs. This, however, can be fixed through medication in the form of an injection or a pill.
Some of the more serious problems affecting a woman's fertility include various types of damage to the Fallopian tubes. Sometimes this can be caused by STDs such as chlamydia. Pelvic inflammatory infections can cause growths, which in turn cause blockage to the Fallopian tubes or even separation from the ovaries. In some cases, in vitro fertilization or tuboplasty could be performed to fix these causes of infertility.
Male infertility
Male infertility can be affected by causes that result in poor support of the testes and create an all-around poor quality of health of the individual. Those males who consume tobacco, alcohol or drugs -- including some medications -- will statistically have elevated rates of infertility. As is the case with women, obesity is a factor when it comes to being fertile.
Testicular causes of infertility in men refer to a low quality of semen produced. The causes of this could be various genetic factors. Post-testicular factors vary from impotence to ejaculatory duct obstruction to infections.
The treatment for male infertility varies from medication to surgery, depending on the condition.
Combined infertility
In some cases, both partners might be completely or partially infertile and thus unable to conceive. Certain fully fertile individuals when mating with each other cannot conceive due to immunological factors. These couples will need medical assistance in order to conceive.
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