Infertility

Maintaining a healthy body weight, engaging in daily exercise, having a balanced and healthy diet, avoiding stress, and quitting smoking and alcoholic drinks can help improve male and female fertility. One can also visit a specialist so that targeted male and female fertility treatments may be received.

Due to advancements in technology and medicine, the majority of male infertility cases can now be treated, or overcome. Some of these male infertility treatments include surgery, assisted reproductive technology (ART) like in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and intrauterine insemination (IUI), infection treatment, lifestyle changes, and hormone therapy.

In most cases, an infertile man, with the help of medication, surgery and ART treatments, can conceive his own biological child. In vitro fertilisation (IVF), in particular, has made conception possible for many men with low quantity or quality of sperm.

The most accurate and comprehensive way to find out is to get a semen analysis done at a medical facility. While home sperm tests exist, they are less accurate, basic, and not as well-studied.

The main symptom of infertility in women is the inability to get pregnant after a year of regular and unprotected intercourse (provided the male partner is fertile). Other possible signs to investigate may include period problems such as irregular cycles, short, very heavy, or absent periods, etc.

There are two types of female infertility: primary and secondary. Primary infertility refers to the inability to have ever gotten pregnant before; whereas secondary infertility refers to the inability to get pregnant again after having gotten pregnant before.

With modern medicine and technologies, female infertility can usually be treated, or overcome. Depending on the cause of the infertility, women may have the option of receiving treatment through medications, surgeries, lifestyle changes, or assisted reproductive technology (ART).

Women are most fertile between their late teens and late 20s. When they reach the age of 30, their fertility starts to decline. This decline intensifies as they reach their mid-30s; and by 45, their chances of getting pregnant naturally are very low. Even if women at an advanced age become pregnant, they are considered a high-risk pregnancy and will need to be closely monitored.

There are various tests that women can do in order to check their fertility. Some of these tests include imaging tests (to assess the structures of one’s reproductive organs), ovulation tests (to assess if there is normal ovulation occurring), ovarian reserve tests (to assess the number of eggs a woman has), and so on.

Women who experience infertility can still have a monthly period. This is because not all infertility problems are due to ovulation disorders that affect one’s period.

Prolonged use of anabolic steroids for bodybuilding or performance enhancement can affect sperm production and male fertility. This can suppress natural testosterone production, leading to a low (or absent) sperm count and shrunken testicles (testicular atrophy).

Men’s fertility typically declines around the ages of 40 to 45 due to lower sperm quality and testosterone levels. While they can remain fertile into their later years, the risk of genetic abnormalities in their offspring may increase.