Assisted reproductive technologies: Conundrums and challenges

Abstract

A few weeks ago, a leading multi-city IVF clinic published an advertisement in a leading news daily. The advertisement sounded ominous, "The longer you wait, the lower your chances" - it referred to one's chances of getting pregnant. The subtext was far too easy to decipher: the content was thoroughly gendered and directed solely at women, particularly at career-oriented women who delay their marriages and childbearing plans far too long, supposedly lowering their fertility in the process. It also sounded benevolent in its attempt to warn these "erring" women. It is socially accepted that women are responsible for increasing the infertility rates in the country by their "poor, untimely, and problematic prioritisation of life choices". While men produce sperm that are regenerative, a woman's reproductive potential is perpetually on a decline; born with a fixed number of egg cells, she never produces any more in her lifetime. However, male infertility is an interesting area to delve into; 40-50% of total infertility is male factor infertility (MFI) (1).