IS INFERTILITY ONLY A WOMEN’S PROBLEM ?
Infertility affects millions of people of reproductive age worldwide – and has an impact on their families and communities. Estimates suggest that approximately 50 million couples live with infertility globally. The term „infertility “ means that a couple has failed to achieve a succesfull pregnancy after one year of trying to get pregnant. For women over the age of 35, the cut-off is 6 months.
In some cases, the woman becomes pregnant but can’t carry the pregnancy to term . This scenario is also considered infertility.
Infertility is primary when a person has never achieved a pregnancy. Secondary infertility is when a person has already achieved one or more pregnancies.
ARE WOMEN SCAPEGOATED WHEN IT COMES TO INFERTILITY?
In the past, as well as today, in some societies it is women who take the blame for infertility in the family. This was largely due to ignorance of reproductive pathology, as well as some moral values.
Nowadays, science has confirmed that both women and men can suffer from reproductive problems. Therefore, terms such as female and male infertility factors have been coined.
Interestingly, in about 30% of cases, infertility is due to a purely male factor. Therefore, blaming women as the only responsible ones for infertility is scientifically unjustified.
In 20% of couples, the cause of infertility is in both men and women. A couple is diagnosed with unexplained (idiopathic) infertility (10% of cases) if the cause of infertility cannot be determined by conventional diagnostic methods.
CONCLUSION
Infertility is an extremely painful topic for those who have encountered it. Affected men and women often blame themselves for the problem. The truth is that there is no one to blame. The various conditions leading to infertility are beyond our control and are a matter of an unlucky coincidence.
Fortunately, modern reproductive technologies offer a solution to many cases. The most important thing is not to lose hope, as well as time for diagnosis and treatment.