Fertility and infertility

Sterility must be differentiated from infertility. Sterility is the difficulty for a couple to get pregnant after a year of frequent and unprotected sexual intercourse in the days close to ovulation. The human species has a low reproductive power since in couples under 35 years of age and with unprotected relationships on the days of ovulation, the pregnancy rate is approximately 25%. In people over 35 years of age, this rate decreases with age and at 40 years of age it is approximately 10%.

Infertility is defined as the inability to carry a pregnancy to term and achieve a normal newborn, therefore couples who suffer from repeat abortions. Primary infertility is considered when the couple does not have previous normal children and, secondary, when abortions occur after a normal pregnancy. After two abortions, the risk of more occurring is considered to increase, so a study is recommended. In the Anglo-Saxon literature the terms sterility and infertility are used synonymously, which in some cases can be misleading.

In the sterility consultation, first of all, a medical history is taken to guide the case of each couple and request the most important tests for each specific case. In the interview, he orients himself on the possible causes of male sterility, the most important of which are: erectile dysfunction, alterations in ejaculation and congenital malformations at the mouth of the urinary meatus.

Other risk factors to rule out in the first visit may be a history of an alteration in the development of puberty, sexually transmitted diseases and infections of the genital tract, previous trauma or testicular torsion, surgical interventions in the genital area, medications such as chemotherapy, diseases such as mumps or cystic fibrosis, and exposure to environmental toxins.

There are professions with a high risk of sterility due to their contact with toxic substances such as farmers in contact with pesticides, workers at very high temperatures such as in furnaces, foundries ... or workers with exposure to radiation and metals.