Having a Baby – How Important Is It To You?

When a couple is longing for a baby, every month that passes without that magical conception taking place can be painful and upsetting. But what if you’re not in a couple and still long for a baby? Whether you're childless because of biological reasons or it simply hasn’t happened yet “emotional infertility” is real. Growing up, meeting the right partner and having a baby are natural things that we take for granted will happen to us. We think we’ll be able to follow all the pregnancy tips and “hey presto” a baby will be on its way. Sadly this doesn’t always go to plan and more women today are not meeting their ideal partner and are having to leave motherhood until they are past their most fertile years, increasing their difficulties in conceiving. Many women, and men, desperately longing for a baby may be 100% fine when it comes to their physical fertility, but just haven't met the right person, or been in the right relationship at the right time for having a baby. This is classed as emotional infertility. The anguish of not yet becoming mother, or father, due to relationship factors. For many, emotional infertility is just as painful as medical infertility, but attracts far less sympathy than those experiencing medical difficulties can expect. Lots of people find it frustrating that others assume they've left it late out of choice. Especially when perhaps a failed long-term relationship has left them childless in their late 30s. Of course listening to all the pregnancy tips and planning our families earlier may save heartache later on, but even then, there's no guarantee conception will happen. Once you are in a relationship, and even if neither of you have fertility problems, you still have only a 25% chance of falling pregnant each cycle. One in every seven couples needs some kind of medical help to conceive. Fertility treatments available include: • Fertility drugs (clomid or gonadotrophins) stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs which improves the odds of conceiving but makes multiple births more likely. • IVF (in vitro fertilisation). Fertility drugs are used to stimulate egg production. These eggs are removed and put into a Petri dish with sperm. Developing embryos are returned to develop in the woman’s uterus. A sperm donor can be used. • GIFT (Gamete intrafallopian transfer) - like IVF but the eggs and the sperm are immediately transferred to the uterus to fertilise in the body. • Sperm extraction (removing sperm directly from the testicles) • ICSI (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection) - one sperm is injected directly into a harvested egg in the laboratory and transferred to the uterus. • Blastocyst transfer – like IVF but the embryo is only transferred back after five or six days when it has had longer to develop. • Assisted hatching - a small hole is made in the membrane of the lining of the womb to help the fertilised egg implant.