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]]>However – this day is, for some, a sad and painful reminder that they have not yet been able to father a child or are battling infertility issues.
Did you know that today, one couple out of every six is coping with the challenges of infertility. In approximately 30- 40% of these couples, the infertility is due to a problem on the male side.
Regardless of whether the infertility is due to the male or to their female partner or is unexplained, it is also common for men to experience a range of emotions. These feelings are often unexplained and unexpressed and may lead to behaviors and actions that are misunderstood by others.
Men are sometimes perceived as being unable or unwilling to talk about their feelings and experiences. Pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting are seen as a women’s realm and fertility and medical treatments often focus more specifically on women.
Our society also abounds with images of women as mothers, carers and nurturers much more than those of men as fathers and carers. The voices and thoughts of men are therefore often missed, silent and forgotten.
To fill this void, men who have been through the infertility journey are now starting to write about their experiences and about aspects that they have found to be valuable and supportive.
Men may feel a wide range of emotions, including anger, sadness, confusion, anxiety, humiliation, guilt, embarrassment and shame. Such experiences may be due to feeling one or, indeed, many of the following:
About the Author: Prelox® is a patented blend of Pycnogenol and L-arginine designed to actively treat male infertility. For further information visit www.2tostartafamily.co.za or email [email protected]
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]]>Unfortunately, this means that a couple is unable to achieve natural conception at all. Ulterior conception methods, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) usually follows a permanent infertility diagnosis.
The following conditions may cause permanent infertility;
This diagnosis is given to couples who struggle to fall pregnant after already having conceived a child. Secondary infertility is usually a tough pill to swallow after a previous uncomplicated conception and pregnancy.
The causes of secondary infertility are usually the same as primary infertility. These issues have just developed after you have had your first child.
A Sub-infertility diagnosis is given to couples who are less fertile than the average couple. Being diagnosed with sub-fertility doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to conceive, it just means that the road to conception will be a little longer (and harder) for you.
It’s a common misconception that fertility problems lie only with the woman. But, research shows that 30% of the time, it’s actually the man that is the problem. Another 30% is attributed to the woman’s inability to fall pregnant, while the remaining 40% goes to a combination of both the woman and man having fertility problems.
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]]>As her doctor spoke, Lynette Barnes fought back tears. She’d suffered through post-procedure office visits before, the kind where you talk about next time. But this time was different.
The fertility specialist said she could try IVF again, but “the odds of it working are very low,” he admitted. And after four years and almost a dozen failed procedures, she had to agree: another round would bring more heartache.
But how could she give up?
Is what Lynette had told herself when she and her husband, Tim, decided to start a family.
Still, when a whole year passed with not happy news to share , the worried couple saw a doctor.
Initial tests were hopeful. Their hormone levels were normal, Tim’s sperm count was good and 32-year-old Lynette was ovulating. But several months later, with no baby on the way, her doctor did a full fertility workup and discovered once of Lynette’s Fallopian tubes was blocked.
Surgery revealed she also had endometriosis, polyps and a fibroid cyst that needed to be removed.
“How could I have so many problems and not have had sign?”, Lynette reeled. The doctor was surprised, too, but the important thing was now that they were fixed.
“I’ll finally get pregnant!”, she thought.
But another year passed with no joyful announcement. “I think we need help,” Lynette finally told Tim.
Hoping for a medical miracle, Lynette started taking Clomid to stimulate egg production and regulate ovulation. And when the timing was right, they tried artificial insemination.
“Please let this work”, Lynette prayed. But it didn’t.
Lynette was heartbroken. And so was Tim. But even though the drugs triggered mood swings, crying jags and angry outbursts and the disappointment was overwhelming – they wanted to try again. And again. And again.
Seven times in all, until the emotional – and financial – toll grew too high.
“I’m done,” Lynette wept. But something whispered, get a second opinion.
“Mixing the eggs and sperm in the lab will increase the odds of fertilization”, advised her new doctor.
So Lynette took more drugs – this time by injection. There were daily blood tests. Then egg retrieval and, finally, two embryos – two possible miracles – were transferred.
But neither implanted.
“IVF often doesn’t work the first time”, Lynette reassured herself. If she didn’t try again, she would always wonder.
But a second attempt failed, too. And with each failure, the odds of IVF working fell. Until they were so low, there was no use trying.
There was no way she could go through another procedure. But being a mom was all she’d ever dreamed of. They knew adoption was an option, one they were considering.
Still, Lynette couldn’t help asking: “Isn’t there anything else?”
To her surprise, there was. She’d just read a study by Stanford University School of Medicine that proved a new all-natural supplement that could significantly enhance fertility.
The women’s formula contained;
“All good for you and safe,” the doctor said. “I’ll try it!” Lynette agreed. And though he didn’t have problems, Tim decided to take the men’s formula. “The more help, the better,” he said.
Don’t get your hopes up, Lynette cautioned herself as she swallowed her pill each morning. And when, after only two months, she started feeling queasy and her breasts hurt, she feared it was just wishful thinking.
So she didn’t tell Tim when she took a home pregnancy test. And even when she saw the plus sign, even though her heart nearly burst out of her chest, she thought… it could be a mistake.
Only after three blood tests to be absolutely sure did Lynette give Tim a card that read, “What are you doing November 11?” “Why?” he puzzled. “Because that’s the day we’re having a baby!” she beamed.
“The pills worked!” he said, stunned.
Baby Hannah turned out to be just a anxious for a family as her mom and dad, because she arrived two months early. Hannah came home after a few weeks in the neonatal intensive-care unit.
“Welcome Home!” Lynette choked, tucking Hannah into her crib.
Today, Hannah is eight months old, and Lynette still gets teary-eyed looking at her. “After all the fancy medical treatments, I can’t believe a little pill made me a mom,” Lynette says. “For us, it was miracle pill!”
Nuvida FertilityBlend for Men and for Women is distributed by Nuvida in South Africa and is available from selected stockists and direct from Nuvida. To order and for more information, success stories and clinical studies, visit www.nuvida.co.za
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]]>While there is a growing trend for women to put off becoming a mom until they are older, Vitalab Fertility Clinic’s Dr Merwyn Jacobson warns that the hands of the clock cannot be turned back.
“Fertility clinics can do a lot to help women in their 20s to mid-30s whose tubes are blocked or whose partners have a low sperm count, but age-related infertility is less promising.”
“The health risks to both mom and child are far greater once a women passes 35, with infertility, miscarriage and pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia becoming more common the older a woman becomes, as does the risk of having a baby with a congenital abnormality.”
Studies have shown that fertility begins to decline significantly after the age of 35, with an even sharper fall once a woman enters her 40s. At this time, the chances of having a miscarriage also rise. But Dr Jacobson acknowledges that there are many women who are not ready to have children during their most fertile period.
Balancing a career and the desire to have children is not always straightforward, and for many women, bearing a child is believed to be the easy part.
“We are not here to dictate when a woman should have a child, but we do want to dispel the myths surrounding later childbirth, and to give sound information about the risks associated with giving birth later in life,” explains Dr Jacobson.
“If you don’t have all the information, then you can’t make a realistic decision, and this can lead to heartbreak and regrets about delaying motherhood. Women need to realise that using fertility treatment is no guarantee of success; techniques such as IVF stimulate the release of more eggs but do not compensate for the effects of ageing on egg quality.”
Dr Jacobson adds that studies have shown that the live birth rate following IVF treatment for women aged under 35 is 31 percent. This figure falls to below five percent among women older than 42. Fertility also declines rapidly after the age of 35, making it much harder to become pregnant.
One of the latest infertility techniques is egg freezing, but Dr Jacobson said there is still too little known about the long-term effects of freezing, with regard to the women’s chances of becoming pregnant or potential genetic problems with the child.
“Women may think that they have an insurance policy with frozen eggs and may even decide to put off having children even longer, but there is no guarantee that these eggs will be viable,” says Dr Jacobson.
“This technique is without a doubt invaluable for infertility, but it is still in its infancy, and it does not overcome other age-related complications such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia.”
The decision on whether and when to have a child would have to be one of the most important decisions a person can make.
Biology is unforgiving, but so too is the corporate world, and many women who make the decision to take a ‘pregnant pause’ during their career find the way back extremely difficult.
The desire to be in a stable relationship with a supportive partner or achieving financial independence also play a significant role in deciding when to have a child.
Dr Jacobson warns that women who do decide to wait until after they are 35 to have a baby need to consult a fertility clinic if they don’t conceive naturally almost immediately after trying, as the effectiveness of medical techniques also decrease the older you get. And he also reminds women that the ‘miracle’ babies like babies conceived by older mothers inevitably make headline news, whereas childlessness is a private and sorrowful experience.
For more information on fertility treatment visit www.vitalab.com
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