Today I am writing about a very broad topic called infertility. Getting married and having children almost immediately is the dream of almost all newly weds of African descent and I pray that God will bless us all with fruitful children whenever we are ready to have them. Amen.
Below is a fictional story about family battling with infertility.
Mr Aye was a gentleman to the core. Handsome, intelligent, hardworking and cool headed. He was every woman's dream. He worked at one of the commercial banks in the country as an accountant and earned a good income. He was comfortable by all standards. But he was unhappy, very unhappy.
He was turning forty and was beginning to have mid life crisis. The cause of which was the fact that he had been married for 15 years and was childless. He had married his best friend and sweetheart immediately after the youth service year. He did not know what the problem was. He had tried to make sense of it all to no avail. Why was this happening to them. He had never committed fornication not to talk of adultery. He neither drank nor smoked. He tried to be upright as much as possible. The same applied to the wife. She had been a virgin until their wedding night. So, why him. God why him.
He had friends who had been "original bad boys" and many ladies who had aborted countless times yet got pregnant whenever they wanted. Na wah o. If not for the fact that he really loved his wife and was scared to death of having a polygamous home, he had been tempted to marry a second wife.
A few years ago, his mother had stormed into the house bringing in one dirty looking girl like that to him to marry so that he could have children. It was disgusting. It had been a sorrowful day. Was marriage all about having children? His wife had cried her eyes out but his mom did not even mind her. She had even labelled her a witch for making him disobey her. He had to be tough on his mother that day and banned her from coming to his house. Now no one visited them. They believed he had been bewitched by his wife.
They had prayed and prayed. They had fasted so much that they both came down with ulcer. They had visited so many men of God but nothing was happening. Someone suggested that they visited a gynecologist but what would they see a doctor for. They had never committed abortion and they did not have any problem with their reproductive system. So, which miracle would a doctor perform for them. They believed that God would answer them in his own time.
But he was still unhappy. He prayed he wouldn't have to wait as long as Sarah and Hannah did. He prayed his miracle would come soon. Amen.
DISCUSSION
Introduction
Children are a gift from God and they must be seen as such. However God has also blessed our world by giving us medical education to be able to examine, investigate and treat or counsel people when these gifts of God are not forthcoming. We should not see the doctor's visit as a taboo to our faith.
Infertility means inability to conceive or to carry pregnancy to term. it is a common problem of about 10% of women aged 15 to 44.
There are two types of infertility:
- Primary infertility refers to couples who have not become pregnant after at least 1 year having adequate sex without using birth control methods.
- Secondary infertility refers to couples who have been able to get pregnant at least once, but now are unable.
Having adequate sex means having sex at least three (3) times a week with one day in between. It is not for one to have sex on three consecutive days for example Monday , Tuesday, Wednesday. No. It will be on alternate days eg Monday, Wednesday, Friday etc.
Couples not having adequate sex are not considered to be infertile. A woman also has to know her ovulation cycle well. She must have sexual exposure at least for 3 days before and after ovulation. The sperm has a life span of 72 hours while the ovum lasts for about 24 hours.
I have to say this. As funny as it may sound some people may not know how to have sex. I have seen a couple married for years and claimed to be having adequate sex and yet unable to conceive. The consultant later found out that they woman still had her hymen intact! They had been having coitus interfemoris. I have also seen some who were having anal sex not intentionally but because they do not know how to perform the act. These set of people are not considered infertile. Let me also mention here that a man with erectile dysfunction may not be infertile.
CAUSES OF INFERTILITY
Many physical and emotional factors can cause infertility. It may be due to problems
in the woman (33%), the man (33%) and by both sexes or due to unknown problems (33%), approximately.
We shall discuss female factor infertility as it is the most common. Majority of the causes can be treated when diagnosed.
FEMALE INFERTILITY
Female infertility may occur when:
- A fertilized egg or embryo does not survive once it attaches to the lining of the womb (uterus)
- The fertilized egg does not attach to the lining of the uterus
- The eggs cannot move from the ovaries to the womb
- The ovaries have problems producing eggs
Female infertility may be caused by:
- Autoimmune disorders such as antiphospholipid syndrome (APS)
- Birth defects that affect the reproductive tract
- Cancer or tumor
- Clotting disorders
- Diabetes
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Exercising too much: weight below 50kg
- Eating disorders or poor nutrition
- Growths (such as fibroids or polyps) in the uterus and cervix
- Medicines such as chemotherapy drugs
- Hormone imbalances
- Obesity
- Older age:>35 years
- Ovarian cyst and poly cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
- Pelvic infection or pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- Scarring from sexually transmitted infection, abdominal surgery or endometriosis
- Smoking
- Surgery to prevent pregnancy (tubal ligation) or failure of tubal ligation reversal (reanastomisis), previous uterine surgery or procedures causing asherman's syndrome, or tubal surgery following ectopic pregnancy
- Thyroid diseases
We shall continue next time with male factor infertility . Thanks a lot. Please share as this may be beneficial to someone. Bye for now.
References
. Pictures from google.
. WebMd
. Medicinenet
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