DUBAI // The IVF baby business is booming in the UAE with more couples than ever seeking help for fertility issues, according to a top specialist.
Men are suffering with poor sperm quality – the most common cause of male infertility – because of smoking and a lack of exercise, while more women are suffering with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), according to James Cooper, embryology lab director at Bourn Hall Fertility Clinic Dubai, the UAE arm of the UK clinic where the first test-tube baby was conceived.
More couples are waiting longer before seeking fertility treatment, which can complicate issues, said the 34-year-old Australian.
When Dr Cooper started in the IVF field about ten years ago, about one in ten couples worldwide faced fertility issues, he said.
In the UAE, about one in five couples faces fertility issues, he said.
“The lifestyles we live now and the changes in our perceptions of when to have a family have made couples try for a baby later in life, and this is when difficulties can arise,” he said. “In the UAE there is a high male factor problem, notably down to things like smoking and little exercise, whereas for women there is a higher number of patients with PCOS and periods can be very irregular.
“This is also due to diet and weight and again this is influenced by lifestyle. As a result more and more couples are using IVF.”
Male infertility is a particular problem in the emirates, he said.
“Here in the UAE we see a high number of men with poor semen samples. Compared with Australia, the UK, Canada and Spain where I have worked, the quality of semen samples here in the UAE is certainly on the lower side.
Dr Cooper said low sperm counts and sperm with poor swimming abilities made fertilisation difficult. “Because of this we need to use a technique called intra cytoplasmic sperm injection where we inject the egg with the sperm individually as opposed to traditional IVF where they meet together in the dish.”
Typically, the younger the patient, the easier it will be to achieve pregnancy, Dr Cooper said.
“Women have a finite number of eggs determined from birth and as they get older this number reduces,” he said.
Dr Cooper advised childless couples struggling to conceive to not wait before seeking help.
“A lot of patients go to their GP and discuss fertility issues after maybe one to two years of trying but every year they are reducing their chances of success.
“Just go to a clinic and have some tests. A simple semen analysis can check the males for sperm and certain blood tests can find out if a women is ovulating.”
Many may need several attempts at IVF to conceive, he said.
“It depends on the reason for their infertility,” said Dr Cooper. “Some couples have very straightforward problems that once easily solved a pregnancy can be achieved. An example is blocked tubes or low sperm count, the actual egg and sperm have difficulty coming together but once they meet, a pregnancy is easily achieved.
“Other patients have more complicated reasons where embryos may be created but no implantation is achieved or possibly the eggs do not fertilise.”
“But a great number of our patients who are not successful in their first go have a better chance the second cycle given that more information is known from the first cycle and this is helpful.”
Bourn Hall holds a fertility seminar twice a month to give advice to couples struggling to conceive.
jbell@thenational.ae