Summer is synonym of self-complacency and happiness for many people. Do not let worries to cast a shadow over it. If you have been thinking of creating your family and suspect a fertility problem, you must know that there are some things you can do about it.
First of all, you are not alone. For some decades already, infertility has become a public health issue in Europe. In the last half of a century the birth rate has been declining. We have reached the point of producing only 1.6 children per woman in our continent. While China and India have a fit and able youth increasing every day, the couples facing infertility in our centers are rising by 8 or 9% annually.
No European countries, but France and Ireland, show a birth rate that allows keeping their current population, which is two children per woman. The UK and Sweden are 1.8 children per woman and all the Mediterranean and Easter countries show a low fertility with 1.5 or less.
What is infertility?
Pregnancy is the culmination of a process that involves many steps. In order to get pregnant, a woman’s body must ovulate. This means to release an egg from one of her ovaries. Second step, the egg must go through a fallopian tube toward the womb. Conception would be the third step in which a man’s sperm must join with the egg along the way and fertilize it. A successful implantation occurs when the fertilized egg attaches to the inside of the uterus.
We call infertility if there are problems with any of these steps.
Infertility: A source of women or men?
No doubt that infertility is one third attributable to the woman and another third to the man. The remainder is due to both of them or unknown causes in the couple. World Health Organization speaks of about 10% of infertility in couples in fertile age.
Some causes of not being able to have children
For women, let’s start with age. Age is the most important determining detail for a successful and happy pregnancy. When a woman is around age 35, the quality and quantity of her eggs decline. To give you an idea, a 25-year-old healthy woman may have a 30% chance of pregnancy while a 38-year-old woman has a 10%. When she is 42-year-old, there is only a 1%.
The infrequent release of a mature egg from the ovary is the second cause. This reveals hormonal problems or a polycystic ovarian syndrome, in which a woman does not ovulate regularly.
If you want to do something for your fertility, maintain a healthy weight and do not drink too much alcohol. Smoking is big risk factor, as you may know.
For men, the most common causes are not producing enough sperm, slow moving or not moving at all. There are other problems like sperm not being released into ejaculate, or a higher testicular temperature holding back sperm production.
Stress, more than two drinks of alcohol a day and smoking, can affect sperm production and end up in fertility problems. Age is not that important but sperm quantity, sperm quality and testosterone decline throughout the years.
What can we do for you?
Thanks to ART (Assisted Reproduction Treatment) 25,000 children were born in Spain in 2014. We care about family and want to help you to create your own. We propose you several options.
- ROPA (receiving ovules from your partner)
- Egg donation
- Fertility preservation
- In-vitro fertilization
Just give us a call and we will find the most appropriate way to help you in getting pregnant. Our medical and psychological team is ready to listen to you.
