2004-3-21
This is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English Development
Report.
A man and a woman are considered infertile if they cannot produce
a pregnancy after twelve months of trying. For centuries, the lack
of ability to have children was blamed only on women. Scientists now
know that men, too, can be infertile.
The organization PATH says infertility affects an estimated
sixty-million to eighty-million people. It says the great majority
live in developing countries. PATH is the Program for Appropriate
Technology in Health. This non-profit group is in Seattle,
Washington.
There are many different causes of infertility. Some are genetic.
Others involve physical problems or injuries. Still others are
environmental, like pesticides and other chemicals. Experts say diet
and the use of alcohol and drugs can also affect fertility.
Some of these causes are preventable. So are others, such as
infections spread through sex. Dirty conditions during childbirth
can also cause infections that make women infertile. So can unsafe
ways to end unwanted pregnancies. And so can the tradition in some
cultures of cutting the female sex organs.
In industrial countries, the best-known current treatment for
infertility is a process called in vitro fertilization. This
involves joining an egg with sperm in a laboratory. Once fertilized,
the egg is placed in the woman to develop into a fetus. Treatments
can also involve the use of fertility drugs to increase the
production of eggs.
But experts say cultural and religious beliefs may prevent people
from seeking modern treatments. In Italy, for example, a new law
took effect this month. The Medically Assisted Reproduction Law
restricts or bans the use of many kinds of technologies. In other
societies, people often blame evil spirits when a couple cannot have
children. So people seek traditional treatments.
In any case, technologies for assisted reproduction cost
thousands of dollars. So public health systems usually do not offer
them. Many experts say public health systems should do more to
educate people about preventable causes of infertility. These
include sexually transmitted diseases.
The experts also say doctors should require an examination of
both the man and the woman when a couple is infertile. The group
PATH says men are the cause, or part of the cause, of infertility in
more than half of couples.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill
Moss. This is Bob Doughty.