(June 22, 2004) — What if having a baby doesn’t come naturally? There are many causes of infertility, and the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Reproductive Medicine Program offers a full range of services by couples with fertility concerns, people with reproductive disorders and birth defects of the female organs. Our multidisciplinary team includes board-certified infertility specialists, obstetrician/gynecologists, urologists and nurse practitioners with vast experience and resources. The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Reproductive Medicine Clinic is the only one in the area offering this team approach to infertility.
Approximately 15 percent of couples attempting their first pregnancy meet with failure. Most authorities define these patients as primarily infertile if they have been unable to achieve a pregnancy after one year of unprotected intercourse. Conception normally is achieved within 12 months in 80 percent to 85 percent of couples who use no contraceptive measures, and persons presenting after this time should therefore be regarded as possibly infertile and should be evaluated. Data available over the past twenty years reveal that in approximately 30 percent of cases pathology is found in the man alone, and in another 20 percent both the man and woman are abnormal. Therefore, the male factor is at least partly responsible in about 50 percent of infertile couples.
Important issues related to the evaluation of the male factor include the most appropriate time for the male evaluation, the most efficient format for a comprehensive male exam, and definition of rationale and effective medical and surgical regimens in the treatment of these disorders. It is extremely important in the evaluation of infertility to consider the couple as a unit in evaluation and treatment and to proceed in a parallel investigative manner until a problem is uncovered. It has been shown that the longer a couple remains subfertile, the worse their chance for an effective cure.
If you are interested in talking to Dr. Estil Strawn, Obstetrician/Gynecologist, Director of the Reproductive Medicine Clinic; Dr. Jay Sandlow, Urologist in the Reproductive Medicine Clinic, and/or a patient, please call 414-805-3666.