Infertility Article

by The ACU Team


nfertility is defined as the inability to conceive after at least one year of trying. A normal fertile couple in their reproductive age, having regular intercourse have a chance of approximately 17-20% of conceiving each month. It is estimated that about 90% of couples will achieve a pregnancy in the first year of marriage. 8-10% of couples worldwide have some form of infertility problems.

Fertile problems have been known to mankind for many centuries. From late 19th century, many attempts were done to transfer an embryo from one animal species to another, but the first in-vitro fertilization (IVF) was in 1959 when Chang had successfully fertilized rabbit oocyte by rabbit sperm. The very first successful IVF in human was in 1976, the result of the work by Mr. Patrick Steptoe and Prof. Edward, super ovulation using HMG and oocyte aspiration through the laparoscope was used. Unfortunately, the pregnancy turned out to be ectopic. The work continued by them resulted in the birth of the first IVF baby in 1978 in U.K. That was an important milestone along the way to what is now an important and internationally recognized treatment option for some infertile couples.

Many IVF centers all over the world were opened since the first IVF baby. Many thousands of babies were born using assisted conception.

Until few years ago, the treatment of couples whose infertility was of male factor has not been very successful. Test-tube baby techniques [(In-vitro fertilization (IVF)] were helpful in some cases, but with lower success rate than in cases with female factors. Around one third of all infertility cases are the result of a male factor. A simple semen test can reveal abnormalities in sperm count, motility and normal forms.

Then the ICSI (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection) did the break through in the world of infertility. This modern technique made that most types of male infertility can now be treated.

Infertility, the roller coaster, still difficult to understand by many couples, it can cause anxiety, frustration and disappointment following a failed cycle. There are other important issues related to the treatment, the cost, the time.

Numbers of infertility couples are increasing dramatically as shown by registrations done by infertile couples worldwide attending assisted conception units.

There are many factors that can lead to infertility and will be summarized as follow:

Female Factors:

Male Factors:

One man in twenty suffers of male infertility which contributes to third of all infertility which contributes to third of all infertility problems.
There are many types of infertility treatment in this unit, each case is treated individually depending on the type of infertility - primary or secondary; factors of infertility - male, female, combined or unexplained and many other factors like woman's age and duration of infertility. Proper and thorough evaluation of the couples will help us to reach the diagnosis and the most appropriate treatment can be planned.

Many treatments can be offered in our Assisted Conception Unit at Muscat Private Hospital.

Cryopreservation of sperm is offered in cases of young men who will be undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy due to any cause (leukemia, testicular tumors, lymphomas).

In our unit, we are ready to receive almost all the cases as our unit is well equipped and hopefully we will be able to help most of the couples.

We wish our patients a successful treatment.