Infertility is clinically diagnosed in men and women who cannot conceive after one year of unprotected sexual activity. After one year of unprotected intercourse, aproximate15 percent of couples can’t conceive. However, 20 to 37 percent of couples younger than 30 who are typically healthy can conceive during the first three months. Numerous medical illnesses and other circumstances leads to this condition of women and male fertility issues. on a particular instance it could have caused by single or multiple causes, or no identified reason.
What Happens Under Normal Condition?
A sperm must unite with the egg for conception. During sexual activity, the testicles produce and keep sperm, which ejaculates during intercourse and transports to the female reproductive system via the penis. So the most prevalent causes of infertility in males are disorders that impact testicular function. Hormonal abnormalities and obstructions in the male sex organs are additional issues. In around 50% of instances, the reason for male infertility cannot be identified.
Approximately 10 to 15 percent of infertile males have no sperm at all.
A hormone imbalance or obstruction of sperm motility may lead to sperm insufficiency. Even if the man has sperm, he might have a condition termed teratozoospermia with 85 % sperm with abnormal morphology. In some instances of infertility, men make less sperm than usual.
Below we will discuss in detail what causes male infertility.
Causes Behind Male Fertility
The process behind male fertility is complicated. Numerous factors
General Causes Leading To Infertility In Men
To pregnancy occur male must have:
- Healthy Sperm: This starts with the formation and development of male sexual organs during puberty. To maintain sperm production, the testis must be healthy, function properly, and create testosterone and other hormones.
- Carrying sperm to semen: After sperm production in the testes, the thin tubes deliver it to semen so that they can mix and ejaculate out of the penis.
- Adequate sperm in the semen: If the sperm count in your semen is low, it would likely fertilize with your partner’s egg. Fewer than 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen is a low sperm count. Also, low sperm count treatment might help to maintain the levels.
- Sperm motility: Sperm with abnormal motility may not reach or penetrate the egg.
So if any of these factors are the reason behind male infertility, seek treatment.
Some Medical Causes Causing Male Fertility
Varicocele
A varicocele is an enlargement of the testicular veins, the primary curable cause of male fertility. Although the specific reason for infertility by varicoceles is uncertain, irregular blood circulation might be the reason. Further, varicoceles diminish the amount and quality of sperm.
Infection
Some infections may compromise sperm production or sperm viability, or they can induce scarring that obstructs sperm movement. Although certain illnesses may cause irreversible testicular injury, sperm retrieval is possible.
Ejaculation problems
Retrograde ejaculation happens when, following orgasm, sperm reaches the bladder rather than exiting the penis.
Antibodies that target sperm
Anti-sperm antibodies constitute immune system cells that misidentify sperm as hostile pathogens and seek to destroy them.
Tumors
Cancers and benign tumors may impact male reproductive systems directly, through tissues that produce hormones linked to fertility, like the pituitary gland, or for unexplained reasons. In certain instances, surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy used to treat malignancies might harm male fertility.
Undescended testicles
In certain males, either or both testicles fail to drop from the abdominal region into the sac that typically holds the testicles during fetal development (scrotum). It is more probable that males with this condition would have reduced fertility.
Hormonal Imbalances
Male fertility problems may arise due to conditions impacting the testicles or other hormonal processes, such as the hypothalamus, thyroid, pituitary, and adrenal glands. There are many potential underlying reasons for low testosterone and other hormonal disorders.
Defects of sperm-transporting tubes
Multiple tubes transport sperm. They may become blocked for various reasons, including unintentional damage during surgery, past infections, trauma, aberrant growth, or other genetic disorders.
Chromosomal abnormalities
Male reproductive systems grow abnormally due to inherited illnesses like Klinefelter’s syndrome, wherein a male has two X and one Y chromosome.
Problems with sexual activity
These may include difficulty sustaining an erection adequate for sexual activity (erectile dysfunction), low libido, premature ejaculation, painful sexual activity, and psychological or relational issues that interfere with sexual activity.
Prior operations
Vasectomy, testicular or scrotal surgery, prostate surgery, and major abdominal procedures done for testicles and rectal malignancies, among others, may prohibit sperm from being present in the ejaculate.
Diagnosing Male Fertility
To determine the reason for your infertility, your physician would often conduct a sperm analysis or a hormonal blood test. Further, they may examine you for infections or order an ultrasound to examine the anatomy of your testicles and other scrotal fluids. In some instances, a testicular biopsy may be necessary for diagnosis.
Male Fertility Treatment
The treatment of male infertility relies on its cause.
If male infertility is due to any part of your lifestyle, your physician may assist you in making the necessary adjustments. For example, smoking and male fertility. If a medical condition’s medicine may be causing your infertility, the doctor will prescribe alternate treatments.
Your doctor may give hormone therapy or other drugs to address your infertility.
Surgery may correct varicocele or blockages of the genital tract if they are the reason for infertility in men.
However, if infertility therapy fails, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) might assist couples in starting a family.
Bottom Line
If you and your spouse have been trying to conceive for at least a year without success, you both should see a specialist. So this is because it is likely that you could conceive naturally, but it is preferable to diagnose early and check if anything is causing male infertility. Further, both male and female fertility drop with age.
Fertility issues may be a significant cause of stress for both spouses. Hence, you may want to discuss couple’s therapy with your doctor so that you and your companion can support one other most effectively.
Several fertility services place a greater emphasis on the female partner than both as a whole, yet both partners’ fertility must be evaluated from the beginning.