What is Infertility, and How Does Getting Pregnant Really Work?
Infertility means those couples have been unable to get pregnant after 1 year of consistent sexual activity with no contraception. Primary infertility means they have never had a child. Secondary infertility means that the infertile person or couple has had one or more children previously, but a health-related condition is now impairing fertility. A number of people could be infertile during their reproductive years, but may be ignorant about this since they’re not trying to get pregnant. Accidental pregnancies are rarer than you might think — on any one occasion of unprotected sexual intercourse, the likelihood of pregnancy is just one percent.
To understand why infertility happens to some couples, it helps to understand just how complex the act of human reproduction is. A problem with any one of the many steps outlined below could be the source of the fertility problem.
The Female Reproductive System
Five essential hormones activate the reproductive system of a woman: gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), estrogen and progesterone. Here is the way those hormones are generated. The hypothalmus, a part in the human brain, first releases GnRH. GnRH will then cause the pituitary gland to generate two additional hormones– LH and FSH. These hormones then instruct the ovaries to secrete estrogen and progesterone.
A female’s ovaries have got 200,000 to 400,000 egg follicles. These follicles are little sacs that include the materials essential to develop eggs. During a two-week time period in a woman’s monthly menstrual cycle, FSH will cause several follicles in the ovaries to ripen and grow. FSH also orders the ovaries to create estrogen, which launches the creation of large quantities of LH hormone. This “surge” in LH hormone induces the secretion of an egg from the biggest follicle into the fallopian tubes – a process known as ovulation. LH hormone additionally stimulates the follicle to deliver corpeus luteum – a arrangement of yellow tissue which will make progesterone. Progesterone and estrogen interact to thicken and prepare the lining of the womb to host a fertilized egg. Jointly, these hormones swell the cellular lining of the uterus with blood vessels, helping to make it less difficult for a fertilized egg to embed itself there.
The Male Reproductive System
Men have four essential hormones required in reproduction. They are: gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone. Here’s how the hormones are made in a male. Just as with the female, in a man the brain’s hypothalmus first produces GnRH, and the GnRH induces the pituitary gland to make FSH and LH. These hormones manage the generation of sperm and the secretion of the male hormone testosterone in the male testes, located in the scrotal sac.
Sperm begin life in the testicles in tissues called Sertoli cells. At the beginning of a sperm’s life, hormones produce its head and tail. The sperm then escapes from the Sertoli cell into the epididymis, which is based behind the testes. For three weeks, a sperm moves through the epididymis in an energizing substance containing fructose. As the sperm swims through this fluid, it develops and acquires the means to move back and forth. A mature sperm has a head that contains the man’s DNA – his genetic material – and a tail that quickly shifts from side to side, propelling it forward.
The Act of Conception
When a man ejaculates in the course of intercourse, muscular contractions push the sperm out of the epididymis to channels named the vas deferens. The sperm then progress to the ejaculatory ducts and out the urethra( the passage through which urine and semen are passed from the body). Just before ejaculation, the sperm in the ejaculatory ducts blend with bodily fluids that originate from the prostate gland and from glands called the seminal vesicles, creating semen. In the course of male orgasms, the seminal vesicles drive the semen vigorously out into the urethra. A muscle in the bladder also locks shut to stop the semen from journeying backward into the bladder and combining with urine. The semen moves from the urethra to a storing area at the bottom of the penis, where muscles propel it out of the penis.
Of the 100 to 300 million sperm discharged when a male ejaculates, only about 40 survive the trip through the acidic surroundings of the vagina and cervix. The woman’s thick cervical mucous can also be a buffer. But in the course of ovulation, the woman’s mucous thins to enable the sperm to journey more freely. Soon after a sperm bores through the cervical mucous, it triggers a special membrane located on the head of the sperm called the acrosome. The acrosome dissolves and produces special enzymes. These enzymes enable the sperm to penetrate the tough covering surrounding the egg in the fallopian tubes. Only one sperm eventually fertilizes the woman’s egg.
An egg is fertilized by sperm only if the couple has sexual activity near the moment the egg is released. Sperm can live for six days upon entering a female’s vaginal area and may fertilize the egg at any time during this period. Having said that, studies show that fertilization is more likely to come about two days before or at the time the egg is released. The fertilized egg then moves on to the uterus, where it implants and develop into an embryo, creating a pregnancy.
When There is No Conception
If the egg is not permeated by sperm, it thrives for 12 to 24 hours. The egg and the bloody cells lining of the uterus then slough off, traveling away through the uterus, the cervix and vagina – this is what causes a woman’s menstrual period.
As you can see, even when broken down in it’s most straightforward terms, the process of becoming pregnant is complex and involves many steps both in the woman’s body and the man’s. A breakdown in any one of these steps in either the man or the woman can be a cause of infertility.
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