Fast-paced lifestyle causing infertility in women--experts

Nearly 6-8 percent of the couples are facing infertility caused by lifestyle changes, smoking, and irregular work routines among women.

"Women have switched to a faster lifestyle now. The stress is affecting their menstrual cycle and hormonal make-up, leading to infertility," said Abha Majumdar, director of the centre of In-vitro human fertilization (IVF) and human reproduction at Sir Ganga Ram hospital.

"Late marriages, mainly after 30 years of age, are another reason for infertility," she said.

Infertility not life threatening
"Infertility is not considered as a life-threatening disease," said Suneeta Mittal, head of department of the premier institute's obstetrics and gynecology department, at the third anniversary of the IVF unit at AIIMS.

"But the attention needs to be on it as there has been a lot of development and innovation on this front," she said.

Use of IVF for infertility
The technique used in in-vitro fertilization or IVF involves removing or harvesting eggs from a woman's body and fertilizing them in a laboratory.

The woman is given hormone drugs to prepare her womb to receive the fertilized eggs that are then placed back inside the womb.

Social stigma in childlessness
Relating to the social stigma accompanying childlessness Mittal said, "Social impact of childlessness is more in India. In western countries, the concept of IVF is widely used."

"Couples have deep misconceptions related to infertility. So they seek solutions from quacks. The point is that when we have advanced, dedicated IVF units in our country, why not popularize them," Majumdar pointed.

Over 100 national and international experts were present at the symposium, which held a live workshop on most recent techniques in prevention, diagnosis and early management of infertility such as assisted reproductive technology(ART).

AIIMS saw participation of over 1,900 couples in their IVF centre.