Today more and more couples are struggling to have children. In an interview with Italian “Planet Mom” prof. Paolo Emanuele Levi Setti, the Fertility Center Manager at Humanitas, explained what causes difficulty in getting pregnant and existing techniques used to solve the problem.
Why is it getting more difficult for women to get pregnant?
“The reason why getting pregnant is becoming more difficult than it used to be, could be that couples are trying to get pregnant at older ages. You should note that if after six/twelve months (depending on age) of frequent intercourse without contraception you are not successful, then it is appropriate to ask whether there is something wrong”.
What options are there to solve fertility issues?
“We first need to proceed with diagnostic criteria (ie the blood and sperm). Secondly we use instrumental tests and, in some cases a minimally invasive surgical procedure may be required. If such tests are carried out in a specific way by a specialist, within two months, a couple will come to understand the source of the problem.
Following a diagnosis of the causes that impede pregnancy, you will be offered one or more paths using different techniques.
In young couples, reproductive problems are a relatively small issue. Therefore, it is common to prefer methods with minimal invasion. In cases with couples that have more important problems, more major techniques, namely in-vitro, are able to provide chances of success.”
