We want a doctor who will treat the cause of the infertility

Many infertile couples find going to an infertility specialist quite frustrating. When they go to a doctor, they expect that the doctor will do tests in order to come to a diagnosis ; and then , based on what the diagnosis is, will provide treatment in order to correct the underlying problem. This is a very logical approach , and is the standard model which most doctors use for treating most medical problems.

Thus, if you have a low sperm count , you expect that the doctor will do tests in order to find out what the reason for the low sperm count is ; and one he finds the abnormality , he will then provide a solution in order to correct it. If he makes a diagnosis of a varicocele , he will do surgery to treat the varicocele ; or if he finds that you have a low sperm count , he will provide you with medicines in order to increase the sperm count.

However, when patients go to infertility specialist , they find that this is not the approach which most of them take . Most infertility specialists will use a success oriented approach rather than a problem oriented approach , which means that rather than focus on problems , we will spend time trying to find solutions in order to bypass those problems. This is simply because our technology for being able to bypass problems after identifying them is far better than our technology is to be able to treat those underlying problems.

This is why a lot of infertility specialists will suggest IVF treatment for patients with a low sperm count – IVF allows us to do in the lab what is not happening naturally the bedroom. From an infertility specialists point of view, this is a perfectly satisfactory solution. After all , the patient does not come for treatment of a low sperm count - he comes because he wants to have a baby ! If we can provide him with a baby, how does it matter what solution we use , as long as he is able to complete his family ?

However, while this may seem a perfect reasonable solution from the doctor’s perspective, this is often extremely unsatisfactory from the patient's point of view.

For one thing , IVF treatment is an extremely expensive exercise - and since the success rate is not 100 percent , this means patients end up spending a lot of time money and energy in pursuing this treatment in order to have a baby.

A lot of patients also don't just have financial concerns. They would much rather adopt a natural solution to their problem , and want doctors who will treat the underlying cause, so they can make a baby themselves in their bedroom.

This is why there are so many patients who waste so much money taking herbal medicines to improve a low sperm count; or pursue ineffective options such as Felopio and clear passage therapy in order to open their blocked tubes, rather than do IVF.

While it's true that some patients have a nagging suspicion that IVF specialists are very liberal in advising IVF treatment because it's much more financially remunerative for the IVF specialist to do so, this is not the real reason. While it’s true that a man with a hammer in his hand will only see nails, patients need to have realistic expectations and accept the fact that reproductive technology still has a long way to go as far as being able to make a reliable diagnosis as to the underlying cause for problems such as a low sperm count. Band-Aid solutions such as IVF will still be the best option for quite a few years, until a lot more basic research is done in order to identify what goes wrong in the testes of men with low sperm counts.