Indian Men are Waking Up to Male Infertility
Women are More Than Baby Producing Machines
According to an article in The Times of India, published in May 2016, India is the second highest populated country but with a lower number of children born per woman than the US, France, Australia and New Zealand. It is found that the number of children born in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad is not sufficient to replace the existing population of their parents. Earlier, women were tormented for not having a child. It was considered her prime function in life to provide the family with heirs, especially a son.
In India, girls are told from childhood that they need to prepare to be a mother someday. The whole idea behind marriage is the need for child birth, an individual who will carry the family's name forward. There are many women who do not desire motherhood but in long run, they are pressurized by society to give birth. And in families where the couple fails to conceive, the woman is usually blamed for the infertility. It is only in recent times that men too have started to visit medical practitioners when there is a failure to conceive and the concept of male infertility is still in its nascent stages in India.
Male Infertility: A New Insight
According to a report published by Pharmanion in November 2015,titled India Infertility Treatments Market Opportunities, 2020, infertility treatments are expected to increase at a CAGR of 13% till 2020. In India, it is estimated that about 14%-15% of married couple suffer from infertility. Naval Goel, CEO & Founder of PolicyX.com, in an interview with India Today in February 2016, said that with the increased rate of infertility and expensive treatment, it is not possible to provide insurance coverage to experimental treatment through health insurance policies.
Male infertility was a matter of disgrace for proud men of the country. But with the increased compatibility amongst couples, nuclear family culture in urban cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Lucknow, men themselves are going to clinics to for treatments like ICSI. Infertility in males occurs because of insufficient number of sperms, abnormal sperm or ejaculation problems. Sperms are called abnormal when they have a short life span or low motility. Several hormonal disorders, genetic conditions, injury in the groin area, excessive smoking and drinking, wearing tight pants, along with premature ejaculation, could be the major causes of low sperm count. Male infertility can be diagnosed by semen analysis to check the number and quality of the sperm.
ICSI: Bold Step by Indian Men
ICSI has proven to increase the chances of pregnancy and reduce implantation failure rates, as compared to other conventional infertility treatments, according to the experts at the best ICSI treatment centres in Bangalore. Indian men were never too comfortable with getting treated for infertility. However, in recent times, men have begun accepting their role in conception and as well as male infertility treatments, of which Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is the most common and successful technique.
ICSI works best for males with a low sperm count or poor quality. Following the donation of a semen sample by the male partner, the sperms are collected, cleaned and that used for the fertilization of ova. In case the number of mobile sperms is insufficient, the sperms are extracted with a needle and directly injected into the individual egg. If fertilization is successful, the eggs are kept in a petri dish for a few days till they divide and become an early embryo. The embryo is then placed into the woman's uterus using a thin catheter. In case there are more than one embryo, the rest are frozen and preserved for future use, if the first attempt at ICSI fails.
