One in four married couples in Armenia is infertile

• Saturday, June 30, 20:58

One in four married couples in Armenia cannot have a baby,  gynaecologist Arman Sahakyan said at today's press conference.   

According to him, males mostly suffer from infertility; however, most of them do not want to confess it.  "Armenian men are always sure that they can have no problems in this sphere and they consult a doctor only after several specialists unanimously say that their wives have no problems", Sahakyan said.  Nevertheless, he added that as compared to the previous years, males have started consulting sexual health specialists more frequently. He also pointed out that this problem is quite relevant among the representatives of the generation of the 1990s, who grew up in hard socio-economic conditions.  

The doctor spoke about the primary and secondary infertilities and their causes and advised the couples not to resort to self-treatment or alternative medicine, but to consult a doctor after 1 year of unprotected intercourse. Any delay may be dangerous and may lead to irreparable consequences, he stressed.

For her part, psychologist Anush Yesayan pointed out that very often the cause of infertility in Armenia is the stressful situation. She said that in some Armenian families the mothers-in-law ask their daughters-in- law every day "Haven't you got any news?" The trouble is that the female organism remembers these fears and does not allow women to get pregnant.

To note, infertility is grouped into two categories. Primary infertility refers to couples who have not become pregnant after at least 1 year of unprotected intercourse. Secondary infertility refers to couples who have been pregnant at least once, but never again. A wide range of physical and emotional factors can cause infertility. Infertility may be due to problems in the woman, man, or both.

Female infertility may be caused by: autoimmune disorders, such as antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), cancer or tumor, clotting disorders, diabetes, growths (such as fibroids or polyps) in the uterus and cervix, birth defects that affect the reproductive tract, excessive exercising, eating disorders or poor nutrition, use of certain medications, including chemotherapy drugs, drinking too much alcohol, obesity, older age, ovarian cysts and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), pelvic infection or pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), scarring from sexually transmitted infection or endometriosis, surgery to prevent pregnancy (tubal ligation) or failure of tubal ligation reversal, thyroid disease, too little or too much of certain hormones.

Male infertility can be caused by: environmental pollutants, being in high heat for prolonged periods, birth defects, heavy use of alcohol, marijuana, or cocaine, too little or too much hormones, impotence, infection, older age, cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation, scarring from sexually transmitted diseases, injury, or surgery, surgery to prevent pregnancy (vasectomy), or failure of vasectomy reversal, retrograde ejaculation, smoking, use of certain drugs, such as cimetidine, spironolactone, and nitrofurantoin.