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As many couples find themselves having difficulty with conceiving a child, infertility is a problem that needs to be talked about more
Myths about infertility
Infertility has been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after a year or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.”
While that is the technical definition, what it doesn’t reveal is the sadness, the self-doubt and the toll on relationships that infertility often brings along.
As many couples find themselves having difficulty with conceiving a child, infertility is a problem that needs to be talked about more – so that people can get the help they need, rather than focus on assigning blame. Women, especially, tend to blame themselves, given that they internalize social norms where women are held most responsible for conception.
Here are some common myths about infertility:
Fact: While in one third of cases, women do face problems conceiving, male infertility also accounts for another 30% of cases. In 10% of cases, there could be problems for both partners, while in the remaining cases, the reason is not clear.
Fact: While younger couples have better chances of conceiving faster, and women’s fertility drops in the 30s (and especially after 35), any couple who have trouble conceiving after a year of regular, unprotected intercourse should consult a doctor. In some cases, younger women and men too may have issues because of reasons such as poor quality of eggs/sperm, or endometriosis or irregular ovulation (women).
Fact: Secondary infertility, where you may have trouble conceiving a second child is quite common, partly because the mother may be older this time, or because of issues that either partner may have developed in the interim such as fibroids (for women) or deterioration in sperm quality (for men).
Fact: Globally, approximately 1 in 8 couples will face some challenge with conceiving. There is nothing rare, unique or shameful about it. Seek help!
As part of an initiative to create more awareness about infertility and help people get the information they need, Nova IVI Fertility will be organizing a Twitter and Facebook chat at 3-4 PM, 8th May, 2014 where Dr. Puneet Rana Arora, a Gynaecologist and Reproductive Medicine (IVF) specialist will be answering questions on the topic of fertility, infertility and IVF treatments.
Dr. Arora brings with her a decade of experience in the National Health Service in the UK and also has a Masters in Reproductive Medicine from the University of Bristol, UK.
More details about the chat:
3-4 PM, 8th May, 2014
Hashtag: #NovaFertility
Twitter Handle: @NovaIVIFertilit
Facebook page: Nova IVI Fertility
Follow them on Twitter or Facebook as convenient to you, and get your questions answered!
Post supported by Nova IVI Fertility
Pic credit: Tips Times (Used under a CC license)
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As he stood in front of his door, Nishant prayed that his wife would be in a better mood. The baby thing was tearing them apart. When was the last time he had seen his wife smile?
Veena got into the lift. It was a festival day, and the space was crammed with little children dressed in bright yellow clothes, wearing fancy peacock feather crowns, and carrying flutes. Janmashtami gave her the jitters. She kept her face down, refusing to socialize with anyone.
They had moved to this new apartment three months ago. The whole point of shifting had been to get away from the ruthless questioning by ‘well-wishers’.
“You have been married for ten years! Why no child yet?”
I huffed, puffed and panted up the hill, taking many rest breaks along the way. My calf muscles pained, my heart protested, and my breathing became heavy at one stage.
“Let’s turn back,” my husband remarked. We stood at the foot of Shravanbelagola – one of the most revered Jain pilgrimage centres. “We will not climb the hill,” he continued.
My husband and I were vacationing in Karnataka. It was the month of May, and even at the early hour of 8 am in the morning, the sun scorched our backs. After visiting Bangalore and Mysore, we had made a planned stop at this holy site in the Southern part of the state en route to Hosur. Even while planning our vacation, my husband was very excited at the prospect of visiting this place and the 18 m high statue of Lord Gometeshwara, considered one of the world’s tallest free-standing monolithic statues.
What we hadn’t bargained for was there would be 1001 granite steps that needed to be climbed to have a close-up view of this colossal magic three thousand feet above sea level on a hilltop. It would be an understatement to term it as an arduous climb.
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