Hyderabad: A 2015 survey has found that 17 per cent of patients who approached city fertility clinics were cases of unexplained infertility wherein the exact cause could not be identified.
According to experts, in 80 per cent of the cases the exact reason for infertility is easily identified where the male and fem-ale factors are listed out by experts.
But in unexplained infertility, these factors become extremely difficult to pinpoint and that becomes very frustrating for the couples seeking treatment.
Dr Chandana Lakkireddi, a fertility consultant in the city said, “In unexplained infertility cases it is found that there is something wrong at the basic level, like eggs or sperms. A normal looking egg or sperm under the microscope is not found to fertilise properly. The issue requires further tests to identify what is the problem. In many cases we have found that a woman has a huge reserve of eggs but all the eggs are of bad quality.”
Eighty per cent of the 1,165 patients who were followed up in the clinic were from Hyderabad and the rest were from other districts of the state.
Dr Geeta Reddy, infertility specialist in the city said, “In some cases, we have found that there is a problem with the embryos where despite fertilization, it fails to mature and attach itself to the uterus. In these cases, further diagnostics is done where the ovulation and semen analysis is carried out to find out the exact cause of infertility.”
Experts say that in-vitro fertilisation helps them understand the health of the eggs and sperms but there are times when they are not able to understand the reasons for failed implantation.
Recent DNA studies carried out on sperms show that 15 per cent damage to a sperm is normal, but if the damage is 25 per cent then chances of having a baby go down even if the couple is being treated.
Testing time for infertile couples
Patients suffering from unexplained infertility go from clinic to clinic and become increasingly worried, depressed and frustrated.
Most of them have spent a lot of money on tests and the results are always the same. Mr and Mrs Pavan Kumar (name changed) 34 and 29-year-old have been married for four years but despite diagnostic and also IVF treatment, they have not been able to conceive.
After multiple tests it was found that it was a case of unexplained infertility as all factors appeared normal but still conception was an issue. Dr Sudha Nair, senior gynaecologist said, “The problem is that most of these patients are also worked up psychologically. There is too much of stress on them not only from their family, but also the society. This ends up building up a lot of pressure. Add to this is the quality of eggs and sperms, which aggravates the problem further.”
