'Women alone can't be blamed for infertility'

Infertility is affecting more and more families, as couples decide to have babies later in life. But in many cultures, infertility carries a stigma, and often, 'a defect in the woman' is thought to be the underlying cause. Science proves otherwise, which says that both men and women bear equal responsibility for conception and infertility.

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Gagan Kaur Cheema, who is a Bilingual Health Educator at Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health MCWH, spoke to SBS Punjabi about causes of infertility, especially the ones that are affecting the migrant populations. This is a part of our monthly series on womens' health issues.

Pregnancy test Source: Getty/ Joyful

Gagan said, "The age of both the man and the woman is the most important factor that affects the woman’s chance of becoming pregnant."

"In women, at 30, the chance of conceiving naturally each month is 20%. It starts to further decrease from this age, and at 40, her fertility has halved."

"The chance of conceiving each month at this age is around 5%. Pregnancy risks and birth complications also increase with age."

"This is true in men too. When men reach their 40s, the fertility declines while the risk of miscarriage increases."

Gagan added, "In new migrant and refugee populations, reproductive decision making processes is being influenced by migration and settlement process, such as visa statuses, financial situations and a sense of uncertainty."

"Family and community pressure deriving from these factors, can influence when people decide to have children."

"Couples need to be aware of this age factor so they can make informed decisions if they do want to delay having children."

"Other important factor is body weight of both the man and the woman."

"Being of an unhealthy weight can create imbalance of hormone levels that affect ovulation in women and affects sperm quality as well as quantity in men."  

"Healthy balanced diet and optimal physical activity can boost fertility in both men and women. Similarly, smoking and alcohol also affect fertility negatively in both men and women." 

Gagan stressed on the fact that evidence-based information is the key to improving chances of pregnancy in the couples who are struggling, and not having culturally appropriate knowledge about this topic in their own language is a big barrier for them.

"Support is available and the couples must seek it sooner than later. First point of contact must always be their GPs. Other support channels are:

- Your fertility website and resources (www.yourfertility.org.au)

- Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA)

- Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health: for information in your language (www.mcwh.com.au)

- Family Planning Victoria: Their clinics are in Melbourne (03 9660 4700) and Box Hill (03 9257 0100)

- Jean Hailes Foundation for Health (www.jeanhailes.org.au)". 

For detailed information on the topic, listen to the whole interview with Gagan.

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