IVF Spring > Fertility Conditions > Unexplained infertility
Unexplained infertility
Many a time, doctors have no explanation as to why some couples have an infertility problem. There are two groups of people that experience this problem: the first is a group of couples that are not infertile but reasons unknown are unable to conceive. They may be called just unlucky. The second group is a set of people that do seem to have some reasons that make them infertile. However, with whatever medical facilities we have today, the problem cannot be correctly diagnosed.
Unexplained fertility is the name given to the condition when the woman ovulates regularly, has normal and open fallopian tubes (there are no adhesions), and does not have endometriosis. The man in such a case has sperm production that is normal. It is also required that the couple have frequent intercourse and the post-coital test returns positive results. The intercourse should be as close as possible to the time of ovulation. The final condition to label a couple as infertile is that they must have been trying to conceive for one complete year but have been unsuccessful in their attempts.
It has been observed that close to 10 percent of couples that are labelled as infertile experience unexplained infertility. This percentage depends on how thoroughly the test is conducted and the sophistication of the technology used.
Causes of Unexplained Infertility
Successful pregnancy is the result of hundreds of steps that take place in the bodies of the man and woman concerned. If any of these happen to be disrupted, it may result in infertility. As of today, medical technology has not become sophisticated enough to even monitor several of these steps. There are not enough diagnostic tests that are currently used to identify certain factors. There are cases when infertility is not revealed till a complete cycle of IVF has been completed for the couple and has been a failure either due to non-occurrence of fertilization or due to improper implantation.
Unexplained Infertility: Symptoms & Diagnosis
There are no specific symptoms that doctors can look out for in the case of unexplained infertility. A diagnosis of unexplained infertility is made if the couple fails to conceive after one year of having unprotected sex regularly and semen analysis, regular scans, and tubal patency test results fail to display any obvious cause for infertility. The diagnosis is finalised after many routine investigations have not returned any answers.
The diagnosis is made final only after all the tests have been completed and the results come out as ‘normal’. This diagnosis is therefore seen to be more frequent in cases when the number of clinical tests done to determine infertility is fewer.
Diagnostic Tests Recommended for Secondary Infertility Treatments
At your first visit to get treatment for secondary infertility, a normal work-up for standard infertility is done at the start of diagnosis.
During the diagnosis, both of you can be asked some questions revolving your current health and medical history so as to assess what has changed from the previous pregnancy that might have resulted in secondary infertility. Some blood tests and ultrasounds might be done to determine if you are ovulating and check the egg supply too. An X-ray might be done to look for blocked Fallopian tubes. Semen analysis can also be done to measure sperm count and quality.
How to Choose the Correct Treatment for Unexplained Infertility
It is interesting to note that a couple that has been diagnosed with unexplained infertility enjoy a reasonably good chance of becoming pregnant without any treatment whatsoever. In case of everything being normal, the chance of becoming pregnant within three years is 1 out of 3. In case the couple decides to opt for treatment to combat infertility, the chances of conceiving soon increase manifold.
IUI or Intrauterine Insemination is a common unexplained infertility treatment method. This procedure is known to lead to pregnancy more often than intercourse does. Another method of treatment that couples suffer from unexplained infertility can opt for is IVF. This method is known to have the highest rates of success compared to all others.
Why choose IVF Spring?
A majority of couples that have difficulty in conceiving believe that treatment is not possible if the cause of infertility has not been diagnosed. However, they are ignorant of the fact that as far as treating unexplained infertility is concerned, these methods have reached a higher level of sophistication when compared to the diagnostic methods for the problem itself. Advanced infertility treatment methods such as assisted reproductive technology (ART) have helped to bypass the diagnostic lacunae that are present now. The affected couples are anyway more interested in finding a solution to the problem at hand.
The advanced infertility treatment methods at IVF Spring are gentle on the body than traditional treatment for the problem. All IVF treatments that we provide use very few drugs (or no drugs at all, in some cases) and are designed to work within the natural menstrual cycle of the patient. Our Focus is clearly on quality of the eggs and embryos rather than their quantity.