Infertility is a bugging issue amongst women today. So many women are going through depression, some have lost their marriages due to the problem of infertility which is sometimes not their fault.

Infertility is what occurs when a couple is unable to produce children after regular unprotected sex within six months or 1 year of trying. 

The term infertility is also used to describe the condition whereby a woman is unable to carry pregnancy to its full term. Examples of such cases are miscarriage, recurrent pregnancy loss, stillbirth and many more.

Fertility declines with age in both men and women, but the effects of age are much greater in women. Women tend to be more fertile in their early 20s rather than in their 30s when they become half as fertile. 

A woman’s chance of conception declines significantly after age 35 that’s why doctors advice women to conceive on time. Health practitioners have come up with different solutions to put an end to infertility and one of which is fertility preservation. 

The process of saving or protecting eggs, sperm, or reproductive tissue in order to conceive in the future is referred to as fertility preservation. 

The sperm or eggs are kept for their owners so they can use it to procreate their own biological children in the future. 

People with certain diseases, disorders, and life events that affect fertility may benefit from fertility preservation. Those who,
Are constantly exposed to toxic chemicals in the workplace or during military dutyHave endometriosisHave uterine fibroidsAre cancer patients Are about to be treated for an autoimmune disease, such as lupusHave a genetic disease that affects future fertilityDelay having children.

Quite a number of fertility-preserving options exist, some of them are:
Embryo cryopreservationThis method, also called embryo freezing, is the most common and successful option for preserving a female’s fertility. First, the eggs are removed from the ovaries, fertilized with sperm from her partner or a donor in a lab in a process called in vitro fertilization. The resulting embryos are frozen and stored to be used in the future. 

Oocyte (pronounced OH-uh-sahyt)cryopreservation
 Unlike embryo cryopreservation, in this instance, unfertilized eggs are frozen and stored.
 Gonadal shielding
The pelvic area is covered with a lead shield to protect the ovaries from radiation.

Ovarian transpositionIn this case, the ovaries and sometimes the fallopian tubes are moved from the area that is likely to receive radiation to an area that will not receive radiation. For example, they may be relocated to an area of the abdomen wall that will not receive radiation.
 By: Anne Agbi