Male fertility is a complicated process in which sperm production to the semen production requires exact hormone balance along with a good mental and physical state.
The sperm count and semen volume is an important parts of this process. In males, there are no obvious signs of infertility other than the inability to conceive a child. The reasons can be an inheritance, hormonal imbalance, dilated vein around the testicle or passage block of sperm.
How Doctor Can Be Your Infertility Rescuer?
Observable signs are, having issues in sexual life (erectile dysfunction, reduced sexual drive etc.), pain, swelling in the testicular area, gynecomastia (imbalance of testosterone and estrogen) etc. It is often suggested to see a doctor when the above-mentioned signs are observed. The difficulty in ejaculation and reduced sexual desire are also to be noted as major signs.
How To Prepare For An Infertility Appointment?
Keep your medical and insurance records ready: It is important for the diagnosis that you provide your medical history and medical condition to the doctor. It is good to provide the list of current medications you are taking (Providing the dosage of these medications will be more helpful).
Any treatment you have undergone in the past or undergoing in the present. All this information will pave the way for the doctor to make a great diagnosis. It is important to talk about insurance claims as fertility treatments are expensive. To provide the respective documents and also try to contact your insurance agent for any possible upgrade in the insurance plan.
Initial diagnosis: Your vitals are taken along with height, weight and blood sample.it is to understand your current situation. The blood sample is used to diagnose the hormone level and any possible imbalance can be found out.
Visit Endocrinology: This is an important part of the diagnosis since the hormones are a major part of this. By providing the details on lifestyle, sexual life, sexual partners, diet etc. you can contribute to an accurate diagnosis.
Tests and analysis: For males there is Semen analysis: Semen analysis is where the male partner will donates his semen for examination. Based on the number, motility and other factors it can be analyzed. The quality of the semen is an important factor in this case. The volume, PH and viscosity are examined as parameters in semen analysis.
Any irregularity found is only confirmed by repeating the test. If confirmed, an evaluation by a urologist is suggested.
Discussion with the doctor: Doctor after diagnosis will provide his initial inference on the situation at hand. It is an important part of the appointment because any questions regarding the clinic and treatment can be asked during this discussion. As a patient, it’s your right to ask questions and it’s a doctor’s duty to educate you on the matter.
You clear your doubts about the success rate, treatment options, and risks and estimate the expense of the treatments. Knowing your options other than a single clinic is also important. It is important to write down any questions that might come to your mind and ask them in the next discussion with your doctor or you can do it via phone.
These follow-up questions provide the doctor to look for newer options and you can also work on the information provided by the doctor. Make sure the clinic has an emotional support group to support you during this tough time. Mental health is equally important as physical health.
NB: At the time of treatment couples should consider this as a challenge to overcome together rather than blaming the issue on one another. The emotional support group in the clinic will help to get over this issue. Couples therapy can be recommended.
There are other methods than treatments to bring a child into this world. Other methods include artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, ovarian stimulation, surrogacy and adoption.
There are conditions to choose these methods. Artificial insemination is used when the male partner is unable to provide the sperm through normal intercourse or when the female partner’s uterus is inhospitable.
The sperm is inseminated directly into the fallopian tubes to increase the chance of fertilization. In-vitro fertilization is the process of making lab conditions to fertilize an ovum and place it back in the mother’s uterus.
The next one is ovarian stimulation, this process is carried out by hormonal treatment to stimulate the ovary to produce more than one ovum and thereby increasing the chance of fertilization.
This treatment has an emotional side effect on the female patient as it can cause mood swings etc. Another method is surrogacy. It is often done by couples that can’t conceive even after in-vitro fertilization.
The surrogate mother will nurture the ovum after fertilization, but it should be known that there is no biological relation between the child and the surrogate mother in this case. The last one is adoption. In this world, there are a lot of children who do not have a parent. If all the treatments as mentioned above are not okay for you, you can always adopt a child.
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Health Based Writer, More than 8 years experience in medical field
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