First of all, infertility doesn’t necessarily mean that you will never be able to have a child. It may mean that there will be a difficulty but with the right medical guidance and treatment, chances increase. Can you recognize the infertility signs your body sends you, and how can you deal with them?
It is a common misconception that most women are infertile. Scientists have found that about a third of infertility issues come from women, and another third from men. The final third may be due to a combination of both, other factors, or unknown causes. Usually, couples won’t recognize infertility until they try to conceive, or they may get symptoms but they don’t associate them with infertility.
In this article, we will present some of the most profound and common symptoms your body may present to you, and how you’ll recognize and deal with them.
1. Pain during sex. Pain during sex, or dyspareunia, can be a sign of an underlying health problem that may influence fertility. Examples of such health issues include infections, endometriosis, and fibroids. Also, there may be a change in sex drive and desire.
2. Irregular periods. Women with period abnormalities, pain, and heavy bleeding may experience infertility problems.
3. Hormone changes: including skin changes, loss of hair, sudden change of weight, acne, etc.
4. Underlying medical conditions: premature menopause, PCOS, endometriosis, cancer and cancer treatments, and other chronic illnesses.
1. Hormonal imbalances include: changes in hair growth, sexual desire, problems with erections and ejaculation, changes in testicles such as unusual pain, swelling, or lumps.
2. Research from 2015 concluded that obesity in men causes infertility. It can also increase the risk of other conditions that may impact a man’s fertility such as sperm quality and sexual dysfunction.
3. Cancer and other chronic illnesses again here can cause infertility.
The way you also live and the lifestyle you follow may influence your fertility levels, whether you are a woman or a man. Smoking, drinking, excessive levels of stress, and an irregular diet will harm your fertility and your overall health. More especially, smoking negatively affects sperm counts, sperm shape, and sperm movement—all of which are important factors for conception. IVF treatment success rates have also been found to be lower in couples with male smokers, even when IVF with ICSI is used. In women, smoking can speed up the process of ovarian aging, bringing on earlier menopause.
So, you are trying to conceive and doctors diagnose your partner of some fertility dysfunction. How do you deal with it? It will be devastating news, and possibly your partner will start to feel ashamed and give up conceiving efforts. This is where you need to step up and encourage him/her not to give up trying. Of course, it might be essential to take a break and reassess the situation with a clearer mind. Many infertility treatments can help you conceive with very high success rates, such as IVF, IVF with egg donation, sperm donation, ovarian rejuvenation, etc. You have to be open to each other and ready to share your feelings. Communicate to your partner and remind them that you’re in this together and that you’ll deal with it as a team going forward. There are also support groups to help you accept the new reality. For that purpose we have created a Facebook group, for people struggling with infertility, in order to support each other and learn from each other’s valuable experiences. It has be found very beneficial when you openly talk about your struggles and find comfort in people who experience the same.
“The hardest part of the entire process from start to finish was dealing with the unknown, one couple confessed. We never had a definitive reason why we were having trouble getting pregnant, and each month was a rollercoaster of emotions—building your hopes up, holding your breath for the results, and then ultimately being disappointed. And then having to do it all over again,” Caitlin recounts. “I was constantly being poked with needles, having to go in for tests and managing the change in hormones in my body…There were times when I just wanted it to stop.”
“As the spouse of someone going through all of this you have to remember to be supportive,” Ben says. “Realize you don’t have the solutions and that is okay, but be there—truly be present—and that is usually enough.”
1. Ovarian Rejuvenation Treatment is the newly developed biological therapy that gives women a chance to try for natural or IVF conception, especially to those who don’t have their menstrual cycle anymore or have experienced early menopause.
2. IVF has given hope to many women who experience infertility over the last couple of years.
3. Egg donation is part of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in which women battling infertility are able to get donated eggs coming from different sources like an anonymous donor or an egg bank and start the IVF treatment.
4. Sperm donation, where an anonymous male with healthy semen donates some of his sperm, giving the chance to an infertile couple or single woman to have their own child.
5. Egg freezing, is a very beneficial treatment, especially in egg donation cycles, where couples can actually freeze and store embryos for a long period of time without affecting their quality and they can use them for a biological sibling in a subsequent cycle.
6. ICSI, is an advanced specialized treatment that is combined with IVF and is required when the sperm sample is poor and treats severe cases of male infertility.
7. Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT), is combined with IVF and prevents the couple’s known genetic disorders from being transferred to the embryo.
Everyone experiences pain and agony differently. Don’t shut down your feelings and express your concerns. If you and your partner decide to proceed with any fertility treatment, MEDIPASS will guide and support you through your fertility journey. Greece is one of the best IVF destinations, with top-notch clinics and doctors, and the IVF success rate is about 50%. Explore your options, read the signs your body sends you, don’t be afraid to openly talk about infertility, and let us give you the personalized and safe journey you deserve.
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