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Infertility Treatments – Do They Work?

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When you are trying for a baby, it can be tempting to try a selection of fertility treatments to see whether they may help you to conceive. A selection of these is described and discussed below.

Food Supplements

There are certain fids that contain nutrients that are supposed to help with certain fertility problems. For example, zinc in strawberries is supposed to be good for males. However, if you are just trying for a baby and have no reason to believe you even have fertility treatment, then fiddling around with foods and supplements would be a waste of time. It is good to have a healthy balanced diet and for women to start taking folic acid as soon as they start to plan a family as it is vital for the developing baby. However, unless you have a specific diagnosis then it is not wise to make extreme dietary changes.

Loose Underwear For Men

There has often been a lot of talk about sperm not liking things too hot and so looser fitting underwear is better. There is actually no scientific proof that this makes any difference at all. In fact, the stress of worrying about this sort of thing could be more likely to lead to infertility. So do not worry about it.

Reducing Alcohol

There is scientific evidence that alcohol can have an effect on sperm count. It is therefore a good idea to reduce or eliminate it when you are trying or a family. Although the information is changing a lot lately, it is not good for an unborn baby to be exposed to too much alcohol either so it is probably better if both parties stop.

Medication

There is a medication that can be taken to help fertility. However, this should only be done under the guidance of a doctor or fertility clinic. Under normal circumstances, the medication should not be necessary to help a couple to get pregnant.

Once you have been trying without success for a while, then you can get tests to see whether there are any problems. You usually have to try for two years before you can be referred and then you will have to be tested to see whether either or both partners need medical help. If the woman has ovulation problems, then medication can be given to her to help with this. In some cases, this can be all that is needed to help them to get pregnant.

IVF

If there are problems with the man, then more advanced treatment may be needed. There are different procedures that can be done but usually, a sperm sample is given. This is either injected into the woman, put into a petri dish with some eggs taken from the woman, or injected right into the egg. The treatment chosen will determine what the woman will need to have done.

None of the treatments have a 100% success rate. How good they are will partly be determined by how severe infertility in the couple is.