Fertility equality

Fertility equality refers to equal access to fertility clinics, reproductive health services, and other issues relating to human fertility.

Those who campaign for fertility equality say that healthcare policies discriminate against and penalize individuals from LGBT communities and low-income backgrounds. This forces many into debt or dangerous, unregulated online deals, risking sexual assault, disease or infection and debates over parental custody of children.[1][2]

History

During The Ancient Era( (3500 BC-500 AD), the start of improvement of the civilizations, which ranged from the Indus Valley to Vedic Civilizations, they practiced the tradition of Niyoga pratha or Levirate, which was an important component in producing children. During this time, these civilizations were knowledgeable about artificial insemination. Artificial insemination is the procedure which includes manually injecting a woman with semen into the reproductive tract in order to reproduce without sexual intercourse.

During The Common Era (c. 300 CE- c.400 C), infertility was a problem when involved in marriage due to the fact that it was expected for a woman to reproduce once married. Women who suffered from infertility were abhorred by their husbands, their families, and society. Their value in society was determined by purity and the ability to reproduce. Infertility became one of the major results in divorce during this era.

The unfortunate complications of not being able to birth a child continued throughout from the medieval period to the middle ages. Gender equality began to appear in the existence and lives of those in the medieval ages. Even though women were the focus in regards to religions on infertility, men were also seen as a problem when producing a child. During this time, people would involve themselves in polygamous marriages as a solution to women infertility problems in the Middle East. Polygamous marriages were put into place in order to create a temporary establishment in order to conceive a child from them.

Progress within the scientific world, pertaining to modern medicine and infertility treatment, began to emerge during the Renaissance period. Around the 7th century B.C, Modern medicine was practiced and originated in Greece. Ancient Greece, created the assumption that common treatments for infertility were established surrounding magic, superstitions and religion. In due time, medical science began to rule out superstition and magic and instead turned to factual and scientific medicine. Furthermore, infertility began to be seen as a medical issue that required treatment and diagnosis. Hippocrates created a solution of reasoning based on rational thinking and began to create treatments that would help couples who were infertile. Treatments created by Hippocrates based their focus of treatment on lifestyle changes while modern medicine focused on pharmacological and surgical methods.

In 1677, Antione Philips van Leeuwenhoek made a discovery through a microscope called spermatozoa. Spermatozoa are defined as,“the male sex cells that carry a man’s genetic material.” After this discovery, further developments in the science behind the process of gamete production were made in modern medicine in order to treat infertility issues.

Infertility

Male Infertility: The factors in male infertility are accountable for approximately 40% of infertile couples. These factors may include, the sperm count being low, unusual sperm appearance, sperm ducts being blocked,and even poor mobility of the sperm.

Females Infertility: 40% of the responsibility of infertility problems were traced back from the female. These factors include abnormal or absent ovulation, abnormalities in the reproductive organs, and even a block in the Fallopian tubes.

The 20% unaccounted for is a result of no specific problems being discovered.

Evolution

In 1779, Lazzaro Spallanzani, an Italian priest and physiologist, revealed through experiment that sperm carried a nucleus and cytoplasm. This discovery showed that the embryo is created through the physical exposure of the egg and the sperm. As a result of this discovery, Spallanzani was capable of inseminating dogs. He was also able to demonstrate the activation and inactivation of sperm by cooling it and reactivating it later.

In 1827, Carl Ernst Von was able to discover the mammalian ovum which made an important benefit to embryology. In 1922, artificial insemination was established as a viable procedure in Russia in efforts by Ivanow. After many tests using this technology on animals, the attempt of the procedure was successfully made on the first woman, 11 years after Spallanzani’s experiment. This enactment was the first documented report on the experiment by Dr John Hunter, a Scottish surgeon in the late 1770s.

Cypreservation was the result of the ongoing advancements in the improvement of the AI experiment. The purpose of using cryopreservation is to preserve semen in order to make use of it in the future. After Mantegazza began to freeze sperm in 1866, approximately 150 years later, men who were going into service began to freeze their sperm before leaving to fight in the Gulf war. The idea of sperm banks being ideal became a reality as a result of the first successful pregnancy using frozen sperm.

Eventually further improvements were made within the treatments for infertility. In Vitro Fertilization was introduced and became popular while being more safe and painless. IVF was attempted by Professor Walter Heape during the late 1800s, first experimenting on rabbits. This led to a victorious procedure performed by Robert G. Edwards and Patrick Steptoe.

Types of Treatments

Tracking your ovulation may be essential in order to try and conceive. Periods of ovulation are important in trying to conceive.
Fertility Drugs are accessible to women who have trouble with ovulating regularly. Clomiphene citrate, the most common fertility drug, may also cause multiple eggs to be released at the same time which will ultimately result in a pregnancy consisting of more than one fetus.
Injectable hormones can be used to further stimulate ovulation 6 months of using clomiphene.
Due to endometriosis, other surgeries, and pelvic infections, the blocking and scarring can cause issues that will result in Laparoscopic surgery.
Intrauterine Insemination is a procedure where sperm is inserted into the uterus during the time of ovulation. This procedure eliminates the distance required to reach the egg during ovulation.
In Vitro Fertilization consists of merging both the egg and sperm in the lab and placing it inside of the uterus. This procedure includes hormone injections and a procedure that includes extracting eggs from the female.

References

Kaufman, David (July 22, 2020). "The Fight for Fertility Equality". The New York Times.
Hutton, Alice (November 7, 2021). "Married lesbian couple launch discrimination action against NHS". The Guardian.