Male Infertility

According to the National Institutes of Health, male infertility is involved in approximately 40% of the more than 2 million infertile married couples in the United States. One-half of these men experience irreversible infertility and cannot father children, and a small number of these cases are caused by a treatable medical condition.

In men, hormone disorders, illness, reproductive anatomy trauma and obstruction, and sexual dysfunction can temporarily or permanently affect sperm and prevent conception. Some disorders become more difficult to treat the longer they persist without treatment.

Sperm development (spermatogenesis) takes place in the ducts (seminiferous tubules) of the testes. Cell division produces mature sperm cells (spermatozoa) that contain one-half of a man's genetic code. Each spermatogenesis cycle consists of six stages and takes about 16 days to complete. Approximately five cycles are needed to produce one mature sperm. Energy-generating organelles (mitochondria) inside each sperm power its tail (flagellum) so that it can swim to the female egg once inside the vagina.

It is difficult for any person to admit that they have a fertility problem. However, because of the old fashioned idea that women are typically the cause of infertility issues, many men find it especially hard to admit that they might be the one with the problem. When going for fertility testing, it is important for the male partner to undergo a semen analysis in order to assess how well his sperm work. This simple test can provide fertility specialists with a great deal of insight into a man's fertility.

In almost half the cases of subfertility, there is a male contribution to the problem. The initial investigation requires a sample of semen for analysis. This is usually produced at home after abstaining from ejaculation for 2 to 3 days. A shorter time than this will reduce the total number and longer abstinence can lead to a falsely high number of poorly motile (slow swimming) sperms. The sample needs to be delivered to the laboratory within one hour for analysis. The following are considered a normal result:

Volume: 2-5mls

Concentration: more than 20 million per ml

Motility: more than 50% progressively motile

Form: more than 30% normal appearance

White blood cells: less than 1 million per ml

We clinics suggest two samples should be received for analysis, particularly if there are any abnormalities with the first test. It takes around 74 days to make sperm, so if 2 samples are checked in a shorter time than this, it is likely that they are from the same population. This might be important if, for example, a man had a viral infection, or a poor result followed a period of particularly heavy alcohol intake. In this case, it would be better to delay the second sample for 3 months.

There are several other specialised tests for semen analysis, but these are not routinely recommended, as their ability to predict infertility and direct the correct treatment has not been proven. One particular test is the anti-sperm antibody test.

How to deal with Miscarriage after infertility treatment

Spontaneous abortion (SAB) or miscarriage is the term used for a pregnancy that ends on it's own, within the first 20 weeks of gestation. Often the medical name spontaneous abortion (SAB) gives many women a negative feeling, so throughout this information we will refer to any type of spontaneous abortion or pregnancy loss under 20 weeks as miscarriage.

Miscarriage is the most common type of pregnancy loss. Studies reveal that anywhere from 10- 25% of all clinically recognized pregnancies will end in miscarriage. Estimations of chemical pregnancies or unrecognized pregnancies that are lost can be as high as 50-75%, but many of these are unknown since they often happen before a woman has missed a period or is aware she is pregnant. Most miscarriages occur during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. Pregnancy can be such an exciting time, but with the great number of recognized miscarriages that occur, it is beneficial to be informed on miscarriage, in the unfortunate event that you find yourself or someone you know faced with one.

Sometime this leads to Infertility and then couple look for solution. In fact in IVF also you can have miscarriage due to many reasons. Lymphocyte Immune Therapy (LIT) is the new way of treating the same.

Normally after ovulation, the egg travels into the fallopian tube. Fertilization occurs here. This embryo multiplies and moves towards the uterus and finally settles down in the uterine lining to develop into a fetus. The fetus has two components - One is mother side, the other from the father. If the mother's component is not protected, it can lead to spontaneous abortion as in auto immune diseases. (blood tests recommended are lupus anti-coagulant and anti-cardiolipin antibody). These auto-immune defects can be treated by giving aspirin, heparin and if needed, steroids.

The father's component is not protected as in allo-immune defects. Natural Killer cell activity of the white blood cell (WBC) in the uterine lining can be now tested. If this is raised patient is treated by lymphocyte immune therapy (LIT), using blood of husband or an unrelated person. Lymphocyte Immune Therapy (LIT) is repeated many times until the klller cell activities of WBC's comes to normal levels

When a women has high TNF-alpha, LIT is recommended. A strict Administration is needed during the LIT. DELHI IVF has achieved laurels in managing patients with prolonged infertility & recurrent spontaneous abortions, and post menopausal pregnancies.

How to deal with Infertility

This is not a serious problem. There are now many options available now to have a family. Like IUI, IVF, IVF-ICSI, Egg donation, Surogate mother etc.

People have much more serious problem in life. There is much more in life then having a baby. Don't be psychologically upset. Have a sense of upset- Humour. Take the treatment lightly and don't keep thinking about having a baby all the time. Don't loose your identity & confidence. Stop blaming yourself. You have not done any crime by not having a child. Keep yourself busy. Don't be ashamed. Don't isolate yourself. You are not the only who do not having an child.

Yes sometime its really hard when you actually dream of having a family, but thats not the end of like. Think of whole family and other members, who love and be with you no matter what you are. And above all you always can choose to adopt a child.