Although I know that many of you have more education than you’d like on the subject of infertility, my goal this week is to get the word out there, and offer as much information as possible for people who don’t know about or understand infertility.
Here is Infertility 101, from the RESOLVE website:
Infertility 101: Get the Facts
What is infertility?
Infertility is a disease or condition of the reproductive system often diagnosed after a couple has had one year of unprotected, well-timed intercourse, or if the woman has suffered from multiple miscarriages and the woman is under 35 years of age. If the woman is over 35 years old, it is diagnosed after 6 months of unprotected, well-timed intercourse.
Who gets it?
Infertility is a medical problem. Approximately 30% of infertility is due to a female factor and 30% is due to a male factor. In the balance of the cases, infertility results from problems in both partners or the cause of the infertility cannot be explained.
What are the risk factors?
- Weight
- Age
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
- Tubal Disease
- Endometriosis
- DES Exposure
- Smoking
- Alcohol
What are the signs and symptoms?
Often there are no signs or symptoms associated with an infertility problem. Listening to your body and getting regular checkups will help to detect a problem. Early detection and treatment of a problem are often critical in achieving successful pregnancy outcomes later.
How is infertility treated?
Medical technology now offers more answers and treatment options to men and women trying to conceive a child. From hormonal treatments, ovulation induction and Intrauterine insemination to more advanced technologies like in vitro fertilization, ICSI to surrogacy, egg/sperm donation and even embryo donation. For more information on treatment of infertility visit the Family Building Options section of our site.
What medications are used?
There are a variety of medications used to treat infertility. It is important to understand the medications and what their purpose is and to speak with your physician about the medications that will be used in your specific treatment plan. Read more about Fertility Medications.
What is artificial insemination?
Artificial insemination is now more commonly referred to as IUI (intrauterine insemination). It is a procedure used for couples with unexplained infertility, minimal male factor infertility, and women with cervical mucus problems. The procedure uses the husband’s or donor’s sperm, washing and treating the sperm, and then injecting it into the woman during the time of ovulation. Read more about IUI.
What is In Vitro or IVF?
In vitro fertilization (IVF) gets its name from the fact that fertilization occurs outside of the woman’s body, in a lab dish instead of a woman’s fallopian tubes. Typically, a woman will use ovulation stimulating drugs to produce an excess number of eggs. These eggs are surgically removed from the woman and fertilized in dish with sperm. If fertilization takes place, the physician transfers the embryo(s) into the women’s uterus. Read more about IVF.
How can I find an infertility specialist?
Visit RESOLVE’s Professional Service Directory to find an infertility specialist in your area or visit www.sart.org.
Can my OB/GYN treat me?
In many cases the difficulty experienced in becoming pregnant can be resolved by a gynecologist without a referral to a specialist. Often the problem comes down to timing intercourse with ovulation, which may be assessed using one of the over-the-counter urine LH test kits (ovulation predictor tests). Your OB/GYN can also conduct a basic infertility evaluation. If a problem is found during your evaluation and for more complex fertility issues, it is advised to see a specialist.
What questions should I ask my doctor?
It is important to go into the visit with your doctor prepared. Visit the “Downloads section” of this site which covers important questions to ask your physician on a variety of topics.
Also, if you haven’t yet seen Keiko Zoll’s excellent video, What IF? please take a look. She captures all the questions that ran through my head and then turns the idea around.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/11214833]
LOVE LOVE LOVE the video!!!
LOVED the video….thank you for sharing!
The video is full of great ideas!
But… I’m a bit skeptical both towards the video and national infertility awareness week.
I hope i don’t step on anyones toes here.
I just noticed that most of the messages on the website and also the video, are about WOMEN and their medical (and psychological) problems. Even though the facts are stated clearly: In as many cases, it’s the man’s problem.
Many many aspects of childlessness (i’m deliberately not saying infertility here) are not represented in the campaign.
The cases where it’s not a medical problem but one linked to life’s circumstances, relationship issues, pressure from the job market, money issues (apart from the cost of medical treatement) aren’t addressed very much at all.
My video would look very different…. “what if i never ever find a partner again”? “what if i find a new partner… but he already has kids and doesn’t want any with me?” “what if i find a new partner… in 5 years time, when it’s too late for me to have children?” “what if my next partner turns out to be another case of mister-i-don’t-want-to-commit-myself-to-marriage-and-family”… “what if i get pregnant because i’m just sick of restraining my body’s fertile potential with contraceptives…. but the father isn’t the right person to live with?” and so on :-(.
I know that when lobbying, you need to focus your message on specific demands. On the other hand it was so nice that the campaign could have given childlessness a voice…in all it’s aspects…
Anyway, thumbs up to everybody who is active in the campaign and i wish you all lots of success.
You’re absolutely right. These are issues that seldom get addressed. RESOLVE is definitely focused on the medical/emotional aspects of infertility as well as treatment. Including Families of Two as a family-building option is a huge step forward I think. Hopefully in time, the focus will become even more encompassing.