Photo by Ardi Evans on Unsplash
It's ironic that a recent conversation with a fellow yoga teacher had me contemplating the definition of Infertility and suddenly there's this new announcement of a revised infertility definition by ASRM (American Society for Reproductive Medicine).
The yoga teacher was curious as to whom I was serving - whether it was couples who biologically had low chances to get pregnant or also included those couples that were just stuck , as in trying trying and not happening ?
She made me questioned my knowledge, of what I know of infertility (without googling) and I’m glad my brain cells were still working, so it’s when you have difficulty getting pregnant, despite having unprotected sex for one year or six months if you are above 35.
That was the standard definition.
And to answer her question, I was serving both, but my passion is more towards, serving those who’s had to make the hard choice to do IVF.
According to ASRM, the new definition of infertility is ……
……… a disease, condition, or status characterized by any of the following:
The inability to achieve a successful pregnancy based on a patient’s medical, sexual, and reproductive history, age, physical findings, diagnostic testing, or any combination of those factors.
The need for medical intervention, including, but not limited to, the use of donor gametes or donor embryos in order to achieve a successful pregnancy either as an individual or with a partner.
In patients having regular, unprotected intercourse and without any known etiology for either partner suggestive of impaired reproductive ability, evaluation should be initiated at 12 months when the female partner is under 35 years of age and at 6 months when the female partner is 35 years of age or older.
It seems obvious for those in the infertility journey or coaches or organisations in the supporting role. But to have to laid out in writing, it makes it more inclusive.
And now that it’s newly defined as a disease, hopefully all the causes, symptoms and such be taken more seriously by the medical industry.
On another note, I found an oldie but a goodie - definition of infertility:
a medical condition that diminishes your feeling of worth while forcing you to endure a constant roller coaster of emotions (source: Unknown)
What are your thoughts on the revised definition?
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