FEMALE INFERTILITY: CAUSES, RISKS, TREATMENTS.

Planning to be a mother is the most cheerful and challenging stage in a woman's life. Not only does she undergo physical changes but also has to face emotional and mental swings while the pregnancy and even after giving birth to the infant. The phase is cheerful as a woman will be introducing a newborn into this world. The phase is challenging because it needs more care, more patience and a series of events which might not have been thought of. One of the events which no mother has ever planned or thought about is Infertility.

Not all intercourse results in pregnancy. Only and only when the sperm and ovum fuse in the Ampulla region in the Fallopian tube of a woman, Fertilisation occurs successfully. The fused cell undergoes a division process resulting in a zygote. At this stage, the gender of the child is already decided. After further division process, the zygote differentiates into an Embryo, which in turn gets attached to the uterus. This entire process is called Implantation, which leads to Pregnancy.

A common condition in females which is faced by 10% of the population is Infertility. It is the inability to get a successful pregnancy even after trying for straight 12 months due to some limiting factors. In heterosexual couples, 1/3rd of issues are due to male problems, 1/3rd of issues are due to female problems and the rest 1/3rd remain miscellaneous. Infertility caused due to a woman’s limiting factor is called female infertility.

CAUSES OF FEMALE INFERTILITY –

There are many factors affecting infertility. Here are a few points jotted down due to which infertility occurs. Certain factors can be brought under control and certain can be treated with medication or surgery.

·         Physical issues – to conceive, a woman needs to have a healthy female reproductive organ. It includes ovaries. The fallopian tube, uterus, etc. These organs play an important role in conceiving and pregnancy. Ovulation is the most important factor for a woman who is planning to conceive. Every month a woman in her reproductive age normally releases an egg for fertilization. If intercourse occurs during ovulation and sperm is successful enough to fertilize the egg, it results in fertilization. Due to certain reasons egg is not released regularly. These include a woman’s hormonal imbalance, eating disorder, disease like thyroid, severe stress, etc.

·         Issues with egg and their count – a woman is born with n number of eggs which are released every month after she attains puberty. Due to some other reason, there results in a shortage of egg release before menopause which results in infertility. There can be instances of issues in eggs also; having a wrong number of chromosomes, cannot fertilize and grow into a healthy foetus, etc.

·         Age factor – the reducing fertility after the age of 30 is observed in women which increases the complications while conceiving. Thus experts advise planning a family before both parents exceed the age of 30.

·         Structural abnormalities – a woman can have a few glitches in her body, which become observable during her pregnancy. They include – cervical insufficiency, double uterus, surgeries, etc. Due to these reasons chances of infertility increase.

· Woman’s medical condition – uncontrolled diabetes, hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism in the mother does not give a favourable condition in conceiving and leads to infertility.

RISKS FOR FEMALE INFERTILITY –

women who are trying to conceive and are unable to get pregnant should get a screening test done for a way forward. Here are a few points which increase the risk factor of infertility.

·         Increasing Age – as a woman's age increases, her chances of getting pregnant reduce. The prime reasons for infertility are that the number of eggs is lower and the chances of abnormality in the egg are more. Health factor also affects infertility at a higher age. Women at higher ages are unable to do certain exercises and follow a diet.

·         Hormonal issues – hormones like estrogen, progesterone, relaxin, Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), and Human Placental lactogen (hpl) play an important role in pregnancy. Due to hormonal imbalance, ovulation is not triggered timely which leads to infertility.

·         Irregular menstrual cycle – if a woman is facing issues like missing periods for more than 3 cycles, having heavy or light flow, longer periods, etc. it affects fertility.

·         Physical factors – obesity increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes which directly hampers fertility in a woman. So it is advised to have a controlled diet and body mass index according to age. Being underweight is also an issue, enough nutrition is not received by the foetus which results in malnutrition.

·         Drugs and alcohol – overuse of drugs, smoking and alcohol can result in infertility in a woman. It is advised to follow a healthy lifestyle while conceiving, so the repercussions are not seen on the child.

TREATMENTS FOR FEMALE INFERTILITY -

Infertility is a natural phenomenon; it is not under anyone’s control. This does not stop a woman from being a mother for the rest of her life.

1.  In vitro fertilisation (IVF) – with the advent of biotechnology, a test tube baby has now become a ray of hope to parents with few complications.

2.  Surrogacy – a woman with a defective mitochondrion has issues with conceiving and becoming a mother, if a healthy mitochondria donor from a woman is received, motherhood can be experienced. Surrogacy laws have now become stricter due to the violation and exploitation of the surrogate mother. Parents plan a child in a surrogate and then abandon her, leaving the surrogate woman frustrated and aimless.

3.  Adoption – so many children have been abandoned due to certain reasons and they end up in orphanages. Adopting a child does not only give a home and shelter but also builds the future of the child.

A woman's condition becomes helpless and lowest when she is unable to conceive. All that can help is regular counselling, firm family support and compassion to rebuild her trust. Alternative methods like those mentioned above can also help a woman become a mother.

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