Busting myths around infertility

Getting pregnant can be overwhelming for every couple. However, the attempts to conceive take them on a roller coaster of emotions. Many men and women struggle to get that happy news and wait for the day to see two pink lines on the pregnancy test strip. That’s when questions about infertility conceal the mind.

Infertility is a highly complex condition that surrounds a lot of confusion. Doctors having differences in opinions makes it even worse for couples to understand what they are going through in their life.

In medical terms, infertility is considered when a couple attempts to conceive for a complete year, yet fails to get pregnant. When the woman is older than 35 years of age, this time reduces to six months for diagnosis and a woman who is above 40 years of age requires an immediate evaluation.

It is a woman’s problem

This is one of the most common terms we hear in our society – infertility is only associated with women. According to the facts – around 32% of infertility cases are associated with problems in men, 32% with disorders in women, 17% are attributable to both and 19% of cases are unexplained. Generally, in today’s modern era, it happens when both partners do not consume a diet that offers sufficient nutrients for eggs to mature and form a zygote.  

There’s no biological clock ticking

In the fascinating world of social media, people easily get influenced by what they see. The majority of women from high-profile societies who get pregnant after 40 years of age and show up on social media have used an external conception method. There are significant risks associated with women’s and babies’ health if they are in advanced reproductive age. A women’s egg production and quality start to decrease after 30 years of age.  It is imperative to move according to the biological clock.  

Infertility is psychological

Couples trying to conceive for a long but not getting that good news encounter stress. It is certainly common for infertility to cause stress but that does not make it a psychological problem. Scientifically, it is not the root cause but it can impede the process of conceiving. Thus, the couples need to relax as infertility further causes anxiety, depression and other disorders that can make the pregnancy even harder.

Having one child means infertility cannot occur in future

If a couple already has a child that does not mean they can never experience infertility in the future. Even though they conceived naturally during their first pregnancy, they still can experience infertility in later pregnancy. Many couples who plan for their second pregnancy can face problems in conceiving the second time. Hence, it is always necessary to follow a healthy diet and physically active lifestyle because infertility does not only affect the ability to get pregnant, but it also leads to certain conditions that affect the couple’s physical and mental health.

Every infertility has the same solution

Family planning and conceiving bring down to the personal choices of couples. With the easy accessibility to IVF centers, it has become a common myth in society – IVF is the only solution to infertility. That’s absolutely a myth. Every couple has a different story, bodies, reproductive abilities and different stages of infertility. It can happen due to many reasons and IVF cannot prove to be the sole or right solution for every infertile couple.

(The writer, Dr. Pooja Choudhary, is the senior consultant- obstetrics & gynecology, (MBBS, MD) at Apollo Cradle & Children’s Hospital – Nehru Place, New Delhi)