There are so many causes for infertility and they are usually external factors such as lifestyle choices. Smoking, eating unhealthily, drug use and environmental factors all play a role in infertility. However, your own body can also play a role in infertility and sometimes it can be your own worst enemy.
The body’s own antibodies can affect the ability to conceive. In men, anti-sperm antibodies can be your own worst enemy. While antibodies are supposed to fight off foreign bodies such as germs and bacteria that enter the body, you wouldn’t expect it to fight off sperm that is produced by the body. However, in some cases, these antibodies will attack the sperm thus preventing fertility in a variety of ways. The antibodies could prevent the sperm from being able to properly travel through the woman’s cervical mucus. It could also impair the sperm from fusing with the egg. In certain cases, it could inhibit the sperm’s ability to penetrate the egg to begin fertilisation. The risk of developing antibodies is not the same for all men and some men are prone to this condition. Sometimes this occurs naturally while other times it may be the cause of a vasectomy reversal, surgery on the male genitals or it could be related to previous infections or injury.
Your body’s production of hormones could play a role in infertility. Hormonal imbalances in women could affect the body’s ability to release an egg or to ovulate. Your body could be producing too much or too little of a particular hormone. Luckily, hormonal imbalances can be easily detected and solutions include hormone supplements.
Blocked fallopian tubes can also affect fertility. Infections, damaged tubes, scar tissue, endometriosis or adhesions can block the fallopian tubes. This can make it practically impossible for the egg to get to the uterus and, consequently, the sperm cannot get to the egg. If the blockage is limited to a small area, a fertility specialist may remove the blocked portion via open tubal surgery. An alternative fertility treatment solution includes IVF.
You may think that it’s something you’re doing that causes the infertility and sometimes it may be. But it can also be your own body that is fighting against you. So it is important to see a fertility doctor who can advise what the cause of infertility may be so that you can have a plan on how to proceed onward.
