The cause of difficulty getting pregnant can also be due to venereal disease

Venereal disease is spread through unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal sex with an infected partner. Venereal disease occurs mostly in adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 years.

Sexually transmitted diseases can be one of the causes of difficulty getting pregnant that you might not have thought so far. This is especially true for women. However, men should also be careful because venereal disease threatens the quality of their sperm to fertilize a woman's egg, which can make it difficult to get pregnant.

The following is a brief explanation of venereal diseases that can cause difficulty getting pregnant for you and your partner.

Why venereal disease can make it difficult to get pregnant?

Doctors often describe venereal disease as a "hidden" infection because the majority of people diagnosed with this disease do not show any symptoms. When left untreated, venereal disease can eventually lead to pelvic inflammatory infections. Pelvic inflammatory infection (PID) is one of the leading preventable causes of female infertility.

Women who are infected with PID will experience scar tissue in the fallopian tubes and other reproductive organs. This prevents the egg and sperm from meeting for fertilization. And even if the egg is fertilized, the fallopian tube is blocked by scar tissue and can prevent the embryo from reaching the uterus. This can increase your chances of getting pregnant outside the womb, aka an ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy complication that is very dangerous and can even be fatal.

Venereal disease can also cause infertility in men. The process is similar to how PID damages a woman's fallopian tubes. The structures of the male reproductive tract, including the epididymis (ejaculatory duct) and urethra, can become blocked due to scar tissue that develops from untreated gonorrhea and chlamydial infections. The drastically decreased immune system due to HIV can also reduce the viability and the number of sperm in semen. This makes men's chances of getting their partners pregnant even more difficult.

Fertility problems due to venereal disease in men are less common than in women. However, this is largely due to the fact that genital infections in men are more likely to show characteristic symptoms. Therefore, venereal disease in men is more likely to be detected and treated quickly.

What are venereal diseases that cause difficulty getting pregnant?

Not all sexually transmitted diseases cause difficulty getting pregnant, but certain types can jeopardize your chances of getting pregnant and giving birth to a healthy baby. The venereal diseases most commonly associated with causes of difficulty conceiving include:

1. Chlamydia

Chlamydia is one of the two main causes of pelvic inflammatory infection (PID), along with gonorrhea. Chlamydia can also cause asymptomatic infections in the upper genital tract, which can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus and other organs important for making babies, leading to infertility.

2. Gonorrhea

Like chlamydia, gonorrhea is also a major cause of PID, which then causes difficulty conceiving for some people. Gonorrhea can cause scar tissue that blocks the fallopian tubes and increases the risk of an ectopic pregnancy (which can be life-threatening to the mother and always fatal to the baby). Gonorrhea also increases your risk of contracting HIV. If you become pregnant while infected with gonorrhea, you can pass the disease on to your baby.

3. Mycoplasma genitalium (MG)

Although the name may sound unfamiliar to the ears, mycoplasma genitalium has been known to exist for the last few decades. Mycoplasma genitalium is a type of bacterial infection that has been found to be associated with nongonococcal urethritis in men and bacterial vaginosis in women. The main complication of bacterial infection due to venereal disease in women is infection of the upper genital tract which results in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and scarring of the fallopian tubes. Both are the main factors causing difficulty conceiving and causing ectopic pregnancy.

4. HIV

Thanks to medical advances, HIV / AIDS is now no longer a “death sentence” like in the past, but it still affects the quality of life of its patients, including their chances of conceiving and bearing children. A study conducted on a population of HIV-infected mothers in Uganda showed that they are more difficult to conceive and tend to be more prone to miscarriage. In addition, HIV will lower the immune system which in turn can exacerbate any sexually transmitted infections that occur. It is not surprising if the subsequent sexually transmitted infections experienced will worsen the fertility of the mother. Infection from the mother may also be passed on to the baby during labor.

Is fertility disturbed by people with venereal disease?

It is important to note that most people who are infected with venereal diseases will not always have difficulty conceiving or other fertility problems. This is especially true of patients who are properly screened and treated.

Venereal disease can be a cause of difficulty getting pregnant because the infection is not detected and continues to become chronic without treatment. For that, always check with your doctor if you have a history of unprotected sex and / or have other risk factors for any sexually transmitted diseases. Further consultation with a doctor to get the right snacks.

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