Infertility Treatment

Infertility is a common problem, but still when individual(s) or couples are diagnosed with it, it is always a shock for them. Many of these individual(s), couples withdraw completely. Instead of sharing the burden, they mostly shoulder it all by themselves. Somehow there is still a taboo attached to it, in both male and female cases.

The question though, that needs to be asked is, «is infertility really a taboo and is it that rare?» This is as far from the truth as it can be. In fact studies have shown that every six’s couple is facing infertility. The diagnosis alone does not mean that they cannot have children. It just means that there are certain problems, most of which, can be dealt with various forms of infertility treatments. Actually more than 70% of the cases are treatable and show results within first 5 years from starting the treatment. One can easily notice now-a-days that the number of twins are growing but it is not exactly an outcome of change in human genetics but a significant amount of this phenomenon can be credited to IVF.

Causes of Infertility

Infertility causes may be divided into two main types: «Primary» and «Secondary». Primary causes are mainly description of physiological state of patients who have tried and were not able to conceive. Secondary causes are mainly description of physiological state of patients who have had pregnancy in past and current physiological state is an acquired one.

Thorough diagnosis allows to understand the cause of infertility, categorize it into one of the two types, and relate it to male, female or both partners. Recent statistics shows that about 33% of the cases of infertility are linked to female partner while 33% of the infertility cases are male related. The unexplained remaining one third of the cases can also be investigated with modern methods of diagnosis and treated.

Female Infertility Causes

Age is one of the most important factors in women, which impacts fertility related issues. From the age of 35, generally a natural decline in fertility occurs. Due to age, the capability of egg which is ovulated is less capable to endure the resulting pregnancy. Egg donation is an ideal option to this.

Ovulation and Reserve of ovaries are key to pregnancy. There can be multiple issues related to this particular context including problems with hormones. The quality of eggs also play an important part in sustainable pregnancy. Reserve of ovaries is directly proportional to a women’s prospect of get pregnant.

Fallopian Tube, key to allowing the passage of sperm, can be infected or maybe effected by endometriosis, which can lead to blockage or distortions. These are also a major factor effecting fertility in women.

Genetic issues related to infertility are mainly related to chromosomal anomalies leading to issues with carrying pregnancy to term or other infertility issues.

Uterus is where the fertilized egg implants itself in the Endometrial linings. Any kind of issues relate to these due to scarring while surgery (previous history) or polyp(s) or Fibroids can interfere in the process of egg implanting itself leafing to infertility.

Male infertility

Quality and Quantity of sperm in semen are the most important aspects in male related infertility. Sperm count of 15 million per millilitre is considered as ok and anything below is considered as low by World Health Organization. Besides sperm count of less than 40 million per ejaculation is also low based on same statistics by World Health Organization. These numbers have been disputed in recent past by researchers who claim that sperm count has been falling over past decades. Good news though, for ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) you need only one sperm cell for fertilization process.

Another of the issues related to sperm quality is the motility of sperm. A lower motility of the sperm cell means that the probability of sperm cell being able to swim through the reproductive tract to mate with the egg is low. This reduces the chance of fertility.

Some men face infertility condition called azoospermia, which means that ejaculate does not carry any sperm cells at all. This condition can be addressed using surgical methods like MESA, PESA, TESA, FNA. Sperms surgically extracted are then used in IVF using ICSI.

Age is an important factor in IVF success even for men. Studies have proved that the genetic composition of sperm has shown to degrade after the age of 40 thus reducing successful pregnancy possibilities trying on their own as well as that of IVF. Most sperm donation programs hence also put an age limit for sperm donors around 40-45.

Unexplained infertility

As mentioned earlier in this page there is a third cause of infertility, unexplained infertility. In this case when a complete diagnosis is carried out on both male and female partners, the results turnout to be normal. This is mainly the case with secondary cases where the couples already have conceived, either naturally or thought IVF.

Infertility in generally defined in the framework of not being able to conceive within a year and most of the information indicates that couples should continue trying. While this is mostly a correct advice but for younger couples. Couples who are in mid-thirties should seek counselling with an infertility expert as fertility at this age is on its decline. The first steps in treatment are generally to try with intrauterine insemination (for several cycles). If intrauterine insemination does not help, then IVF treatment is followed.

Treatment

Treatment is based on the nature of the problem, which in case of infertility can be anatomical or endocrinal. If the nature of the problem is anatomical then surgical treatment is in order and for endocrinal issues hormonal treatments are prescribed.

Hormonal Therapy

Hormonal therapy is mainly to address endocrinological issues, concerning with the correction of endocrinological functioning mainly. This will help resume proper functioning of ovulation allowing increased possibility of conceiving. The aim is to promote the growth of follicular glands and oogenesis thus enabling ovulation.

Surgical Treatment

There are two main surgical treatments for female infertility. The first one involves laparoscopic approach while second involves resectoscopic approach. In the resectoscopic approach, the procedure aims use of micromanipulators to extract myoma nodes and also polyps, mainly found in the uterine cavity are are blockages to movement of sperms. This key issues that can be treated by surgical treatment are hydrosapinx, external endometriosis, uterine malformation, polycystic ovary syndrome, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, or synechiae in the lower pelvis are reasons to use this method of female infertility treatment.

The information provided here is not an exhaustive list of causes and treatments and we look at infertility of our patients on an individual basis. Based on the diagnosis of the of infertility carried out we can offer the following services to our patients:

  • IUI
  • IVF
  • ICSI
  • Egg donation
  • PESA/TESE
  • Egg freezing
  • PGD for embryo screening

Experts and Specialists in our clinic will help decide the best course of treatments for the patients based on their cause of infertility diagnosed.

By choosing the GMS IVF Health Center in Moscow, you receive:

  • Care and consultation from experts with years of experience in the field of reproductive technology field;
  • A comprehensive approach to treating each case individually;
  • Convenient access to all essential medical advisory services and procedures (all under the same roof);
  • A well-equipped medical facility;
  • Expedited and high-quality test results in our OWN GMS laboratory;
  • The ability to have medical procedures at any time that’s convenient for you;
  • Round-the-clock medical and consulting support available throughout the year.

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