Becoming a mother is indeed the most wonderful feeling of the world. Many people are blessed with a child or more children. But, they still feel like expanding their family. However, even after consistent efforts, they are not able to have their next child. They struggle for their next child. This phenomenon is termed as secondary infertility. It clearly means that the parents were not infertile at the time of having their first child or previous children and one or both of them have turned infertile now.
CAUSE OF INFERTILITY
- Ovarian reserve: the women are born with a fixed egg supply which varies from woman to woman. This supply is constant and it does not increase or decrease with time. The quality and quantity of eggs left to be produced within a woman’s body may be limited when she’s trying to become pregnant. This leads to infertility for the second time.
- Male infertility: not only women’s but men’s reproductive life also declines with age. Their, sperm quality and quantity declines with age as well. So, the infertility of man can contribute to woman’s infertility even though she might still be fertile. This makes the woman unable to give birth to a child the second time.
- Lifestyle factors: weight gain is highly responsible for dysfunctioning of the ovulatory function of women as well diminishing of production of sperm. Among males, it raises erectile dysfunction. This way the fertility of both men and women is affected. Similarly, smoking is hazardous for male and female infertility.
- Miscellaneous factors: there can be many factors other than the above-mentioned factors or sometimes the reasons behind infertility can be explained. Around 20% of the cases account for unexplained fertility.
EMOTIONAL BEARING
While there are some people who accept this as fate or destiny or they may be satisfied with their present child. For some others. It can be really difficult to accept this even after having a child or more children prior. Different people have different plans for their family and they dream of having a family with a certain number of kids. They may want to have more kids to have a large family or they can also think of having siblings for their kids to play along and be the companion of each other. Some may even want to have more kids to be with them in their old age. On the contrary, some may be satisfied with just one child. The people who fall in the first category generally get upset and emotionally weakened even though they do have a child or children because their dream of an ideal family cannot be completed. They feel stressed and may take time to evolve out of this feeling and accept the fact that they can not have more child.
TREATMENT
- IVF: in-vitro fertility can be a helpful option for such couples as it is a safe and successful method. They can accomplish their dream of having a baby. In this case, the egg is processed in a test tube instead of a fallopian tube and when it develops into an embryo, it is transferred to a woman’s uterus. Then the pregnancy continues as usual. This infertility treatment is available in India too.
- Medications: there are two forms in which medicines can be given-oral and injection form. Both do the same function. They activate ovarian follicles that help in releasing more eggs from the existing reserve. This way the fertility of woman can be increased. Common oral medicines are Clomiphene Citrate and Letrozole. The generally used injectable medicines are follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone.
- Intrauterine Insemination: in this method, a sample of semen is collected from the woman’s partner or donor and it is processed. After that, it is planted directly in the uterine cavity of the female at the time of ovulation. This helps sperm in coming in contact with fallopian tubes as it is very near to them making it possible for a woman to conceive.
Thus, infertility is not always present in a woman. It can occur even after giving birth to a child. This can be because of the advancement of age or any other factor. The women over 35 are more to become infertile than the ones under 35 and they should always consult a doctor before planning or thinking to plan about the second child.