Infertility is always an emotional and psychological issue for any couple. Although the whole blame is forwarded to women in some cultures, males still contribute – a third of infertility alone.
But is there any way we can identify the signs of infertility in men?
How to cope with the emotional and psychological issues with infertility
When assessing a couple with infertility, we always look at them as a couple with infertility. Instead of marking them as couples with male or female infertility. Because most of these couples with infertility have contributory factors from both. But most often, one contributes more.
What is male infertility?
It is called male infertility, when a couple cannot conceive solely due to male partner issues.
“More simply, male infertility is the inability of a male to make a fertile woman conceive after 1 year of consistent intercourse.“
Signs and symptoms of infertility in Men
If you look into a male, it is challenging to guess him as an infertile male unless he has notable symptoms and signs of different syndromes or hormonal imbalances.
However, you can still guess him as an infertile male with some symptoms and signs of infertility in men.
- Signs of low testosterone level like lack of facial hair.
- Lost of male-type hair pattern in the genital area.
- Unnecessarily grown male breast
- Tiny testicles
- Unusually hard testicles
- Absence of one or both testicles in the scrotum
- Problem in obtaining and maintaining the erection throughout the intercourse (Erectile Dysfunction)
- Painful sexual intercourse in men
- Difficulty in ejaculation adequate amount of semen
How to confirm the male infertility
Male infertility is not always due to one single cause. There is a number of reasons for male infertility. These include genetic factors, hormonal factors, urological factors, Psychological factors, and Occupational and environmental factors too.
However, most often, the causes for infertility due to issues with the production of seminal fluid or discharging it properly. So the most crucial test for male fertility is the Seminal fluid analysis. In addition, we can do so many laboratory and external examinations to assess male infertility.
Problems with Hormonal Levels
Inadequate levels of some hormones cause infertility in males. These hormones include the thyroid, testosterone, GnRH, and more. We often can identify these hormonal deficiencies due to some symptoms and signs on the exterior.
Problems with Seminal Fluid
When we look into semen, we can identify some abnormalities of the sperm which cause infertility in men. These include Azoospermia (Absence of sperms in seminal fluid), Oligospermia (Lack of sperms in seminal fluid), etc.
According to WHO Seminal Fluid Analysis Guide, your sperm should have adequate fluid volume, Sperm count, Sperm mortality, and sperm viability.
Depending on the issues in the seminal fluid, you must take treatment to avoid infertility in men.
Problems with Sexual Intercourse
Some males are incapable of retracting the penile skin. As a result, they get a lot of pain during sexual intercourse. Also, some males cannot maintain an erection, and as a result, there will be a failure in proper ejaculation.
Problems with Erection and Ejaculation
Many physical and psychological factors cause the lack of erection in men. This may be due to the problems with sexual orientation, environmental disturbances, issues with partner and etc. Although all these seems to be unimportant, They contribute a lot to disrupt the erection of the male partner.
Any failure of maintaining the satisfactory sexual intercourse leads to failure in proper ejaculation.
Additionally, there are some men with problems with ejaculation without above issues too.
Whatever the cause of the failure, they must be identified when looking at the signs of infertility in men.
Importance of Identifying the Signs and Symptoms of Male Infertility
The causes of infertility in men are not always curable. But suppose you have a reversible issue troubling fertility. Luckily most of these issues can be reversed and regain fertility. However, the initial step of identifying the reversible and irreversible causes of infertility is the external signs.
So, the 9 of the above signs of infertility in men will give clues on most of the causes.
Then you can correct them and regain the fertility fast with the support of your fertility consultant.
Suppose you are incapable of producing a baby in a natural way with or without support from ovulation induction, still we have many other options for you.