Prevention
Some causes of infertility are related to lifestyle or other health conditions. To help protect your fertility:
- Avoid using tobacco (cigarettes) and marijuana, which reduce fertility, especially by reducing sperm counts.
- Avoid exposure to harmful chemicals.
- Avoid excessive alcohol use, which may damage eggs or sperm.
- Limit sex partners and use condoms to reduce the risk of getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD). STDs that go undetected and untreated can damage the reproductive system and cause infertility. If you think you may have an STD, get treatment promptly to reduce the risk of damage to your reproductive system. Make sure you know how to use a male condom and/or how to use a female condom.
- To reduce the possibility of hormone imbalances, stay at a body weight that is close to the ideal for your height. This is very important for men as well as for women.
If you have been diagnosed with cancer and hope to have children in the future, talk to your doctor about preventing cancer treatment–related infertility.
The issue of stopping treatment is a concern for couples who are taking fertility drugs alone or in combination with an ART -- or assisted reproductive technology -- procedure. These treatments can become addictive unless you define when "enough is enough" before you start. Many couples report that the addiction lies in the hopefulness at the beginning of each new cycle. However, as each menstrual flow arrives, the despair gets deeper and deeper until you can't dig yourself out. Treatment...
Read the Addicted to Hope for a Child article > >
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