Nowadays it is said that even one out of four couples suffers from problems with fertility causing their incapacity to have a child or to expand their family. However it can be result of both barrenness or sterility as well as infertility which are two different medical terms and are connected to two distinct phenomena. Their causes lie in various stages of the reproductive process. Sterility is an irreversible condition causing permanent inability to procreate. Infertility on the other hand is a condition in which despite continuously trying to have a baby it does not end up with success, but could result in pregnancy due to, sometimes small, changes in lifestyle or by getting necessary treatment. Here is what you need to know on the differences and consequences of those two conditions.
Sterility
Sterility or barrenness is defined as the permanent inability to become a parent. Woman is certainly barren, for example, when she suffers from early menopause, has no uterus or both ovaries are missing from her body. Men become sterile if as a result of an accident or surgery they lose both testicles. Male sterility can also be the result of a badly executed operation of umbilical hernia which can damage the vas deferens, or an infectious disease like mumps-related testicular inflammation.
The term sterile is also referred to when we speak of egg and sperm cells absolutely incapable of participating in fertilization, however it is mostly used for situations when there is no physical possibility to produce the reproductive cells due to lack of necessary reproductive organs.
Barrenness is permanent and, unfortunately, it cannot be cured, which means the causes of it are impossible to eliminate. A pair of barren never will own biological offspring by using natural methods. In this case, however, you can decide to consider medically assisted reproduction.
Infertility
It is a condition in which there appears the inability to get pregnant despite a year of regular sexual intercourse with an average frequency of four intercourses weekly without using any contraceptive measures. It can be caused by multiple factors. Common causes of infertility are often ambiguous and difficult to diagnose. However the most important reasons women are infertile are hormonal disorders or disorders of ovulation, ovarian cysts and fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, certain medications, cancer and anti-cancer therapy, anatomical defects of fallopian tubes or uterus as well as side effects of surgery in the abdomen. For men the infertility factors are hormonal disorders, genetic predispositions, anti-sperm antibodies, congenital and acquired defects of testicles or penis and anti-cancer therapy.
Treatment
An infertile couple can become pregnant throughout appropriate treatment or lifestyle modification. It is impossible for couples struggling with sterility problems. But is there nothing that could be done? Depending on the couple’s situation the techniques of assisted reproduction come to the aid. Especially the method of In Vitro Fertilization is helpful in even most ‘hopeless’ cases. Except for the situation where there is no uterus in which the pregnancy could be carried, different options of IVF treatment allow to bypass even the sterility. Major defect or lack of ovaries and fallopian tubes, lack of testicles or their imparity as well as any inability to produce the reproductive cells can no longer be a problem. In Vitro Fertilization involves combining male and female cells outside woman’s body with use of partners’ or donors’ egg and sperm. It means that most of the obstacles can be overcame by using donor cells, performing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, hormonally stimulating woman’s ability to maintain the pregnancy, etc.
Although it is generally easier for the infertile couples to get pregnant than it is for couples with sterility problem, it may not be impossible in neither of the cases. The key to success is to choose the clinic that is specialized in that type of procedures and has high efficacy rate. The example of the facility offering different options of In Vitro Fertilization treatment, vast range of tests and diagnostic tools as well as the highest quality of care and procedures for situations particularly demanding special attention and specific measures is number one fertility clinic in Poland – INVICTA (http://www.invictaclinics.com/). Apart from best comprehensive programs with major types of In Vitro Fertilization procedures conducted by best specialists in the field, INVICTA Fertility Clinics offer top-quality cell bank. INVICTA European Genetic Egg and Semen Bank where testing and qualifying donors can be chosen from the database for those couples incapable of using own cells for the procedure. The whole facility as well as its procedures are held in accordance with standards of international organizations dealing with assisted reproduction and guarantee both security and high possibility of success. That is why with both infertility and diagnosed sterility visiting such outstanding facility as INVICTA Fertility Clinics is what you need to do to be able to enjoy having your dream child.