As more working, independent women delay their pregnancies and choose to conceive in their later reproductive years, India declining Total Fertility Rate (1.9) becomes a cause of concern. Today, the average Indian woman is having less than two children in her lifetime - much below the replacement level of 2.1 - leading to more couples exploring artificial methods of conception via Assisted Reproductive Technologies like In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), primarily considered a woman's-only domain.
This misconception about IVF that only a woman's fertility health determines how successfully the procedure turns out is far from the truth! In reality, a man's fertility health is equally responsible for the success or failure of an IVF cycle. We spoke to Dr Ajay Srivastava, Chief Embryologist, Crysta IVF, Delhi, who shared insights on role of men's and women's fertility in IVF.
50% of infertility cases involve a male factor
For centuries women have carried the cross of bearing perfectly healthy children. IVF too has long been framed as a woman's medical journey as she goes through hormone injections, scans, egg retrievals, embryo transfers, and the emotional highs and lows of treatment. The science says otherwise.
"Every embryo is 50% sperm and 50% egg and what that sperm brings to fertilisation determines whether the embryo thrives or fails. Despite this fact, the focus remains only on women, while male fertility receives far less attention than it deserves," said Dr Srivastava.