Dilemma of a Delhi couple; they are happy but all is not well

Anil vaidya (name changed), a science professor in a prestigious college of Delhi looks happy. He has a caring wife Richa, working with an MNC in NOIDA. She also looks satisfied with life. Both are outgoing, spend money on friends and lead a good life.

To their acquaintances, they are happy-go-lucky couple, but to their close friends and parents they are sad, very sad internally. They got married 5 years back but they are unable to achieve parenthood. Yes- they are childless couple, a condition which is highly painful. When they are at home, they feel a huge void in their lives. No pleasure on the earth can compensate for the situation.

Medically, Richa is normal and both know it. Anil accepted this fact with dignity that he has a low sperm count.

"I came to know about this medical condition in me two years back when we went for check-up following failure of Richa achieving pregnancy even after two years of marriage."

"Doctor said I have low sperm count. I asked is there any hope so that my wife can experience motherhood because it is not her fault and doctor suggested IVF. We went for that also but something went wrong." Says Mr. vaidya.

There are millions like Anil and Richa. In their case Anil has accepted the fact that he is to blame if they are childless. But in maximum such cases women are blamed. If she is unable to bear the child only she is the culprit. This is unfortunate but true.

It is estimated that globally, 60-80 million couples suffer from infertility every year, of which probably 15-20 million are in India alone. Research reveals that nearly one in every five males produce abnormally low amounts of sperm and male infertility is growing in India.

Though IVF or in-vitro fertility, has become a ray of light for infertile males, but variations in its success rate is a mater of debate among doctors.

"IVF with ICSI success rates vary according to the specifics of the individual case, the skill of the doctor performing the procedure, the overall quality of the procedure and also the quality of the eggs."

(ICSI=Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection- an IVF technique to treat male infertility, where a sperm is injected into an egg in laboratory condition)

"Nearly 70-85% of eggs injected using ICSI becomes fertilized. We call this the fertilization rate. Of late a new technology has also been devised known as Intra-Cytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection (IMSI)." Says Dr. Hrishikesh D. Pai, Sr. Gynaecologist & IVF unit Head, Bloom IVF Fortis La Femme Hospital, New Delhi.

"IMSI is the most advanced IVF technique till now, where the best sperm is chosen for the egg fertilization. We expect that the fertilization rate will go up. The technique helps magnify the image of the sperm 7,200 times, thereby allowing us to pick the best sperms for IVF which is a great hope for those who are unable to procreate." Dr. Pai adds.

As per WHO norms, a normal male should have more than 20 million sperms/ml of semen. Low sperm count could lead to male infertility. Generally in men, it is the main causes of infertility and they account for 20%-25% of cases. But there could be other causes also like infections, STDs, injury or previous surgery (scrotal, bladder neck, vasectomy).

There are countless women in India and all over the world, who are suffering silently day and night just because they can not achieve pregnancy, though they know that it is not their fault. But all are not as lucky as Richa.

Now time has come, when men stop blaming women if they don't have child. Thorough medical checkup should be done on both husband and wife.

Some options for male infertility treatment -

- Treatment with antibiotics in case of infection- If infertility is due to any kind of infection ((acute; small pox, mumps, viral infections; chronic; TB, leprosy, prostatitis), it can be cured by medicines.

- Surgical correction

- Fertility drugs to improve sperm production

- IVF technique.

Source : Equity Bulls

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