Continuing our support of National Infertility Awareness Week, today we uncover the sensitive issue of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and how these can impact on fertility.
Mention STI and the first thing that springs to mind is powerful socially programmed negative word associations such as ‘The Clap’ or ‘Crabs’. In a clinical format this may be syphilis, gonorrhoea, herpes or HIV.
STI are rooted in human sexuality and all the powerful societal, mental, physical, emotional and spiritual pressures that go with it, in every human society and in every historical period in human existence.
It’s helpful to put all that aside and just focus on the fact that a STI is just a function of human sexuality and an occupational hazard of being human with any kind of sexual history. According to a February 2019 report by the World Health Organization, more than 1 million STI are acquired every day worldwide.
One of the most common reasons for infertility in women is scar tissue around the fallopian tubes and ovaries, and this can be caused by infection. Post-inflammation scarring from an STI can leave the tubes blocked or incapable of proper transportation, this is important, as it is where the sperm meets the egg. Even if the STI happened a long time ago, scaring remains and can continue to affect fertility for years to come.
In the western world, the most common STI are gonorrhoea and chlamydia and both often go undetected. This is because both of these infections can have mild symptoms in women that can be mistaken for a bladder infection, or even not be noticed at all.
Yet both infections, in the long term can have a serious negative impact on fertility. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea can evolve into pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and form abscesses in the lower abdomen, fallopian tubes and ovaries. However, if caught early these infections are easily treated with oral antibiotics.
Women are most at risk from these infections when they are aged 15 to 29, and it is advised that sexually active women in this age group should be tested for these pathogens regularly at their sexual health clinic
Even if it happened a long time ago, any infection with chlamydia or gonorrhoea can potentially lead to problems with conceiving. This is why a specialist ultra sound scan can check if the tubes are still viable. If there is a problem then the best option to conceive is through IVF because the procedure bypasses the tubes altogether.
