Therapy
Insemination: In this method, the sperm of a man is processed. The prerequisite for this is that the man has only a slight fertility disorder and that there are still enough sperm available. The processed sperm are then inserted into the woman’s uterus during ovulation using a catheter.
The fertilization can still take place in a natural way. In vitro fertilization: In this procedure, the woman is first hormonally stimulated by regularly injecting herself with the required hormones. This stimulates the ovaries to produce several fertilisable eggs at the same time, whose maturation is monitored by ultrasound.
Then, usually between two and five suitable eggs are aspirated with the help of a needle. In Germany, no more than three oocytes may be transferred. Fertilisation with prepared sperm cells is then carried out in a test tube.
After two to three days, the fertilised eggs are transferred back into the uterus. This method of treatment can be used in couples with severe infertility in both the man and woman. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection: First of all, the woman’s hormonal stimulation is carried out, followed by the aspiration of suitable eggs. Subsequently, instead of combining several sperm with the eggs, a sperm is injected directly into the egg with a fine needle. This is a very costly and complex method, and is therefore only used in cases of very severe disorders.
Genetics
Genetic defects can also be a possible cause of infertility. Especially defects on the Y chromosome are problematic, because all genetic information for normal sperm production is located on this gene. Therefore, it is quite possible that a father passes on a defect to his son.
How a defect finally manifests itself depends largely on the severity of the genetic defect. For example, it is quite possible that either no sperm are produced or that a smaller number of sperm are produced, but a low residual fertility is possible.
