Failure of pregnancy to occur a year or more after marriage
is defined as intertility. Infertility or inability to achieve
pregnancy or have a child after years of living together could be:
a. Primary
b. Secondary
Primary Infertility:
In some cases of infertility the woman had never missed her
period let alone carrying a successtul pregnaney. This
situation of no pregnancy since years of marriage is known
as Primary Infertility
Secondary Infertility:
In another form of infertility, the woman had missed period
or had had one or two issues but suddenly finds pregnancy
difficult to come by. Such difficulty in acheiving pregnancy after one or two successful ones is known as
Secondary Infertility. The condition goes to eliminate
congenital situation like (Where a woman has no womb)
eg. Testicular Ferminization Syndrome.
Secondary infertility shows that the problem is not connected to any
disease acquired from birth.
Who is Responsible Man or Woman
It has surprisingly been observed in the Society that all
cases of infertilty are erroneously attributed to the fault of
the woman. This is far from the reality. Both men and
women are equally responsible. As a matter of fact, the
man may be as much more involved as the woman simiply
because of his exposure to so many sexual patners and the
subsequent high probability rate of contacting all Kinds of
veneral diseases. This is not to say that women are
completely exonerated from such blame. Although it is
Known that possession of many sexual partners is an
unusual mannerism of most women. Women are normally contended with one or two sexual partners atmost.
By and large, couples are advised to avoid sexual promiscuity until they have completed their families.
Obviously, I am not encouraging sexual promiscuity
after couples have made their families but to stress the need
to keep to one's life partner in early stage of marriage and
thus assist doctors in finding the root causes of infertility.
Furthermore, in all cases, couples are advised to diligently
follow the problem of infertility, realising that God
Almighty is responsible for pro-creation. What doctors
actually do is to noture to fruition God's approval. In order words, prayers are very important in cases of infertility- primary and secondary alike.
Again, it has been unfortunately observed in the Society that men usually exhibit nauseating relunctance to accompany
their wives to hospital. This is found most in cases of secondary infertiiity where the man's argument is loosely
anchored On the act that he had fathered one or two Issues,
so why not more. This is not true. As one could alter one
or two issues contact deadly diseases eg. Mumps (viral
infection of the parotid glands in the mouth which leads to
swollen cheek and which has been known in most cases to
affect the testis causing one or both to swell up. This
condition is Known as orchitis. It can lead to sterility or
infertility and in considerable percentage of cases, the
sperm producing cells are completely damaged.
Couples are therefore advised to bear the problems jointly
and always support each other emotionally. Pointing
accusing fingers, will worsen the problem than profer
solutions. Anxiety neurosis may compound the problem in
a small percentage of emotionally fragile women
CAUSES OF INFERTILITY:
Causes of infertility will be divided into
(a) Congenital (from birth)
(b) Acquired (later in life)
For purpose of clarty
CAUSES OF INFERTILITY IN MEN:
Congenital:
The testes of every normal man developed in the lower part
of the abdomen. Towards the time of birth of any male
child, the two testes usually migrate by downward
Movement into the scrotal sac where they stay in order to be away from the damaging effect of the body heat In the scrotum, the testes are completely shieided or ansulated
from the effects of the body temperature. Actually, heat
sensation is known to stall the processes of
SPERMATOGENESIS, hence the Special
temperature which allows optimal performance of the two testis
However, in certain percentage of normal delivery, some
male babies are delivered without the testes in the scrotal
sacs. This condition is known as Congenital undescended
testes or Orchidopexy. The two testis could be involved or
only one of the testes.