Infertility is a failure to conceive despite having had regular unprotected intercourse for a year. Your doctor will begin checking for reasons preventing conception after 1 year but he/she may advise you to start even after 6 months of trying seriously.

1. Fertility & IVF
Rish Chatterjee

3. • A. Infertility is a failure to conceive despite having had regular unprotected intercourse for a year. Your
doctor will begin checking for reasons preventing conception after 1 year but he/she may advise you to start
even after 6 months of trying seriously.
Primary infertility is when the female has never conceived in the past and secondary infertility is when she
has conceived at least once in the past but there is now a problem that impairs fertility.
• Studies have shown that in 32% of cases there are problems identified in the male partner causing infertility,
in 32% of cases the causes are related to the woman partner, in 17% of cases the causes for infertility are
with both partners and in 19% of cases the reasons are unexplained.

4. • A. Yes. Changes in lifestyle such as sedentary habits, dietary habits, stress, smoking and alcohol intake
contribute to causing the number of cases of infertility to increase. With increasing awareness, people seek
help more often.

5. • A. Your doctor will ask questions to find out possible medical causes for infertility. He/she will ask you
questions about your sexual history and examine you clinically. An ultrasound examination of the abdomen
and pelvis, blood investigations including hormonal evaluation will be done if needed. The man’s semen
analysis will be done. If felt necessary, a test to check the patency of your fallopian tubes called a
Hysterosalpingography (HSG) will be done. A laparoscopy may be needed to visualize the organs to diagnose
any problem.

6. • A. If a cause for the infertility is diagnosed, that cause is treated. Laparoscopic surgery is
available for treating fibroids, ovarian cyst and endometriosis. If the woman has an
intrauterine septum, polyp, adhesion or a submucosal fibroid it can be treated
hysteroscopically (a small scope is passed vaginally through the cervix into the uterine
cavity). There is no scar on the body and the patient can go home the same day.
• If no cause can be found or after the cause has been treated, your doctor will explain the
time in the month when the woman is most fertile so that sexual relations can be planned to
coincide with that period. During this time a sonographic ovulation study is done with or
without ovarian stimulation followed by planned sexual relations or intrauterine
insemination (IUI). In IUI, a processed semen sample is deposited directly inside the uterine
cavity with the help of a thin catheter.
• In some situations where there is infertility due to causes that cannot be treated or the
couple has had many failed attempts at inducing conception, an IVF/ICSI-test tube baby will
be recommended.

7. Thankyou