In married life children are like an anchor between the father and mother. A woman possesses a dormant desire to be a mother. In most cases, this desire exceeds everything including her career development or physical beauty. In case of a man the outer expression can be less but he also wants to live through his children. In our country a childless couple confronts many familial and social incidents, which make their conjugal life unhappy. In many cases that ends up in a bitter divorce or suicide.

If a couple lives together continually for one year and fails after trying to conceive a child, then they should consult with a doctor. In this entire world 10-15% couples are suffering from infertility. In most cases women are blamed for the failure to conceive a child. But the statistics show that women are responsible in 50% cases only.

A woman is born with a specific number of ova. Ova are secreted in every month from the ovary. The ovum gets fertile in fallopian tube, and then the fertile ovum enters the uterus. The fertile ovum then gets stuck in the uterus. For the next nine months the child slowly grows there. After crossing puberty, in every month some of these ova are spent. In this way these ova are completely finished at one point of time. In case of a man the sperm is produced constantly. As such the influence of age is much more on a woman than a man. Even then it is assumed that fertility is reduced for a man after reaching the age of 40 years. And for a woman, this age is 30 years.

The woman who experiences regular menstruation, it is assumed that in any day between 10th to 18th days of her menstruation, a mature ovum is secreted from the ovary. After secretion the ovum stays for only one day to become fertile. For this reason it is very important for the husband and wife to have sexual intercourse during that period to achieve conception. In case of irregular menstruation, it is assumed that the secretion of ovum is not regular or the ovum could not mature completely.

The number of sperm, their ability to move, size etc. influence the ability of fertilisation. If the sperm is less in number, or if there is any problem in the size or movement of the sperm, the fertilisation may not occur. Excess heat, nylon undergarments, smoking, alcohol consumption, usage of high dose steroid, blood pressure lowering medicines etc. may hamper the production of sperm.

If the Fallopian tube is closed the ovum cannot get fertile and enter the uterus. It can be closed for various reasons such as infection. Due to a disease named Endometriosis, the uterus, ovary, fallopian tube and other organs of the female reproductive system are stuck together in such a way that the regular activities of these organs are obstructed. Defect in the structure of uterus, tumor or polyp may create the problem of infertility.

For a male, any congenital defect in his reproductive organ may lead to infertility. So if a male child is observed to be born with any abnormality in his reproductive organ, the parents are advised to consult with the doctor.

When a doctor is visited by any childless couple, the doctor talks to them, asks their detailed history, performs necessary tests and identifies why the conceiving of child for this couple is delayed. After diagnosis appropriate medical treatments are initiated with the consent of the patient. The medical treatments are comparatively costly and to some extent time consuming. Most of these procedures are outdoor procedure. That means, the patient does not need to get admitted in the hospital to get those medical treatments.

E-mail: dr.purabi@yahoo.com