WOMENS PROBLEMS: INVESTIGATION AT AN INFERTILITY CLINIC
Doctors do not consider a woman infertile until after at least one year during which normal frequency of intercourse has occurred. Figures show that 90 per cent of women usually become pregnant within 12 months when trying. A further four per cent become pregnant during the subsequent 12 months. Pregnancy is more likely during the early years of marriage, for this is when sexual drive and frequency of intercourse are maximum.By the time a couple arrives at the gynaecologist’s office, they have usually tried all the usual (and often the unusual) ideas they believe may play a beneficial part. Many foolishly hawk themselves round to the fringe medical men, attending quacks, buying strange medicines, strange herbal preparations, taking vitamins en masse, in the hope it may increase their powers of reproduction. Aphrodisiacs arc often taken also, but these are invariably followed by further failure.Attending a gynaecologist who has access to an endocrine or infertility clinic attached to a major, well-equipped hospital with full facilities for investigation is the soundest idea.Usually the female partner fronts up first, for mostly the women believe they are the culprits. In fact, about 23 per cent of cases are due to female causes; a further 25 per cent are due to male faults; and the remaining 50 per cent are due to factors affecting both partners.Sometimes males simply refuse to attend for checking, believing the reproduction business is entirely within the female domain. This is a foolish attitude. Marriage, and reproduction, is a two-way deal, and total co-operation of both partners is more likely to yield successful results.*44\45\4*
