Infertility and fertility

Infertility is defined as the impossibility, in a reasonable time, of achieving a pregnancy. It is also related to other problems such as sterility (absolute impossibility of having pregnancies), subfertility (difficulty, not impossibility, of getting gestations) and repeat abortions. Infertility affects both men and women and may be due to various causes. There are different treatments for infertility, but not all are effective for everyone. Treatments for infertility range from medications to embryo implantation and assisted reproduction techniques (ART). There are specific treatments for men and women and others that involve the two members of the couple. If the fertility treatments are not successful, it is possible to use the ova or sperm donated by a third party or another woman to manage the fetus in her womb.

What is primary infertility?

The primary infertility is affecting couples who have failed to achieve pregnancy after one year of unprotected sex and have not had any children before. The important thing about a couple with primary infertility is to determine the cause of infertility and if it affects one or both partners. This would be the moment in which the couple should go to a specialist and undergo a fertility study with which it can be determined if one or both of its members have infertility, as well as the causes of it.

Depending on the results, the treatment will depend on which one is accused. Sometimes it will be enough to treat the condition or disease that causes the infertility situation, in others, it will be enough with advice and education about sexuality, and in others, it will be necessary to resort to assisted reproduction techniques.

What is the difference between infertility and sterility?

The gynecologists differentiate between sterility and infertility. Sterility is when a couple is not able to get pregnant, while infertility is when the pregnancy is achieved but there are abortions and the child is not born. In these moments, the concepts of sterility and infertility are mixed and used when a couple has difficulties to have a child.

Treatments to achieve pregnancy

Sometimes there is a unique and defined cause that can be treated to solve infertility. However, most of the time the treatments try to increase the fertility of both members of the couple.

In intrauterine insemination, ovulation is stimulated to obtain about three eggs and the semen sample is prepared to extract the good sperm, which is introduced inside the uterus coinciding with ovulation. The most common treatments carried out in the assisted reproduction units range from simpler techniques, such as artificial insemination, which simply consists of seeing when the woman is going to ovulate, by means of an ultrasound, and depositing the semen sample inside the cavity. uterine at the most appropriate time and in the best possible conditions, up to more advanced assisted reproduction techniques such as in vitro fertilization.

In the treatment by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo, transfer ovulation is stimulated more; the ovaries are punctured to obtain the eggs that are fertilized by introducing the sperm inside the ovule. The best embryos will go into the uterus.