It is quite confusing to find out that you have unexplained infertility. This refers to the lack of a diagnosis. In this case doctors rule out the known causes of infertility both in case of the man and of the woman. At that point the doctors cannot identify the source of the problem.
Information about infertility that is unexplained
When evaluating the situation of the female patient the doctors take into consideration her physical examination, medical history, hormone levels, functioning of the ovaries, and her hysterosalpingogram. When trying to find the source of the problem there is a laparoscope inserted into the uterus of the woman.
This is important because this way the doctors can take a look at the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes. As a result doctors could rule out adhesions and endometriosis. In case of the male patient the evaluation includes physical examination, medical history, blood tests and semen analysis.
The diagnosis of unexplained infertility
The more limited the tests are, the more common this diagnosis becomes. It is frequent for this diagnosis to appear in case of undiagnosed immunological infertility or undiagnosed endometriosis. If the doctors reach this diagnosis they usually offer empiric treatments to increase the chances of conceiving.
Treatment
The truth is that there is no consensus regarding the treatment for infertility that cannot be explained. In some cases couples are fighting with infertility for 3 years and at a moment they spontaneously conceive. One of the empiric treatments is to offer to the woman ovulation induction drugs for 3-6 cycles.
This kind of treatment for unexplained infertility can also be combined with intrauterine insemination. This means that the semen is prepared in a laboratory setting and it is placed right into the uterus. This could be followed by in vitro fertilization or gamete intrafallopian fertilization.
The treatment for unexplainable infertility is also known as GIFT and it is a kind of assisted reproductive technique (ART). During this procedure there is a mixture of eggs and sperm injected right in the fallopian tubes of women.
When couples are facing unexplained infertility, the doctors could suggest no intervention at all, intrauterine insemination, empiric clomiphene cycles that could or couldn’t involve insemination, superovulation induced by gonadotropins, GIFT or IVF. The decision is made based on the evaluation of the situation.
Many of these techniques can be costly but as an example here you can find out how much ivf costs.
Outlook
If the couples receive the mentioned treatments they have the same chances or higher chances of conceiving as the couples with known infertility problems. The couples shouldn’t think that if they don’t have an exact diagnosis, they have no chance of having children. In fact conception could occur when they don’t expect it.
As it has been mentioned before, unexplained infertility can confuse people. However they should always be hopeful and they have to remember that great advancements are made in the medical fields, increasing their chances of having children. They just have to keep an open mind.
