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INFERTILITY
If you and your partner have been struggling to fall pregnant, you are not alone. Infertility affects 15% to 20% of the South African population. Infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant after at least one year of frequent, unprotected sex. A miscarriage may also be regarded as infertility. Miscarriage is when a woman loses a baby before 20 weeks of pregnancy. It is also known as spontaneous abortion.
The main symptom of infertility is an inability to become pregnant. It could be that one partner cannot contribute to conception. For women, it may be a combination of factors such as a problem with the cervical canal, the fallopian tubes, the absence of menstrual cycles, the female hormones or the presence of a gynaecological disorder such as fibroids or endometriosis. These infertility symptoms and conditions may prevent pregnancy or make a woman unable to carry a pregnancy to full term. With that said, a range of factors can affect a man’s fertility, including problems maintaining an erection, issues with ejaculation, changes in sexual desire and testicle swelling or pain.
Those who experience the following should see their gynaecologist for assistance with fertility:
- Women over the age of 35 who have been trying to conceive for six months or longer
- Women who have irregular or absent periods
- Women who experience severe cramps during periods
- Women who have known fertility problems
- Women who have been diagnosed with endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease
- Women who have had cancer treatments
Fortunately, there are many safe and effective therapies that significantly improve your chances of getting pregnant, so it’s just a matter of finding the cause of infertility so that treatment can be tailored. If you have been trying to fall pregnant but are unsuccessful, Dr Jagiellowicz can assist in the necessary work-up to identify the cause. This may involve ovulation testing, ovarian reserve testing, a pelvic ultrasound, hysterosalpingography, genetic testing and possibly a hysteroscopy. From there, infertility treatments such as fertility drugs may be advised. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH) may be able to regulate or stimulate ovulation and try to stimulate a better egg or an extra egg or eggs, or gynaecological surgery may be needed to correct structural abnormalities of the reproductive organs.
As your gynaecologist, Dr Jagiellowicz may also refer you to fertility specialists if need be. Due to the advancement of fertility treatments and their success rates. In this day and age, infertility is well managed, and it may be comforting to remember there is no one way to make a family.
