European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A REVIEW ON MALE AND FEMALE INFERTILITY- CAUSES, TREATMENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTIVES

F. Nishvanth*, D. Nagavalli, B. Premkumar and S. Shoba

ABSTRACT

The term ‘medicalization’ to denote the process by which certain behaviour comes to be understood as a question of health and illness, subject to the authority of medical institutions. One phenomenon that has become increasingly defined as a medical condition is infertility, usually defined in the biomedical context as the inability to conceive after 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse. The social construction of health and illness is perhaps even more striking in the case of infertility than it is for other conditions. Infertility may occur due to male, female or unexplained factors. Some causes of infertility are preventable. Treatment of infertility often involves in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other types of medically assisted reproduction. Fertility care encompasses the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility. Equal and equitable access to fertility care remains a challenge in most countries; particularly in low and middle-income contries. Fertility care is rarely prioritized in national universal health coverage benefit packages.

Keywords: Infertility, Reproduction, Embryo.