More and more men are affected by fertility problems. Why is this topic not spoken more about?
To make it short, on the second consultation, we got the green light from the doctor to go for IVF, as our only one chance of having a baby. Actually, the plan was that in a week or so, we will start our fertility treatment.
"It never crossed my mind before how much I can do to improve my reproductive health. To be honest, it did not cross my mind either that I have to do anything for it."
As you could read in my previous article, I am going to face our first IVF cycle with my ‘not too tragic’ but ‘not great at all’ semen analysis result. After the stage of ‘Unbelievable’, I entered the phase of ‘Acceptance’, then I started to think about how I can improve my result.
I dived into the world of ART (Artificial Reproductive Treatments), and came across my new favorite word: fertility awareness. We hear about many different awareness and consciousness, but the term ‘fertility awareness’ was completely new for me. It never crossed my mind before how much I can do to improve my reproductive health. To be honest, it did not cross my mind either that I have to do anything for it.
Fortunately, the sperm production is continuous in our body, and takes approximately 3 months to create a completely new army. It means that with some changes in our diet, lifestyle, and habits, we can do a lot for sperm who will be formed in the future. Of course, this cannot happen overnight. It takes about 3 months to notice significant improvement on the result.
Unfortunately, in my case, I had too little information about this topic, and too little time left for big improvement or to correct my bad result. But, of course, it didn’t discourage me to start some changes, because – I believe - every journey starts with one step.
It would be great if this information wouldn’t reach only those couples who are already participating in IVF programs. It’s scary to read that there’s a tendency for men’s fertility to deteriorate from decade to decade, and moreover, typically, men don’t like to test and face it. How much easier it would be to avoid a lot of setbacks, stress and sometimes relationship problems that come with fertility failures. Fertility awareness is all about avoiding these above.
Edit: Our IVF cycle is postponed, because a little miracle happened. Who knows how, but we were able to conceive naturally. We had a chemical pregnancy, meaning that one of my sperm was able to fertilize an egg naturally, but unfortunately the implantation was not successful. This is proof: we can do it! ☺ We have to wait a month to start our fertility treatment, which also means that I gained an extra month to improve (even a bit) my sperm condition.
