Infertility

A happy marriage rests on a few essential foundations. Chief among them are unwavering trust and love between husband and wife, followed—traditionally—by the birth of a healthy child. In recent years, however, more couples have chosen to live fulfilling lives without children, and many facing infertility now accept it with grace and resilience.

Still, even today, in an era that embraces freedom and evolving values, infertility is rarely regarded as a welcome guest. It remains a deeply personal and often painful challenge, quietly testing the emotional bond between partners and confronting our expectations of family life.

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive a child after one year of regular, unprotected intercourse between a married couple. Older textbooks once cited the prevalence of infertility at around 10%, but more recent studies indicate that the rate has increased to approximately 15%.

There are many causes behind this trend—irregular lifestyles, unsuitable dietary habits, lack of exercise, excessive stress, delayed marriages, and promiscuous sexual behavior, to name a few. However, this is not something we can simply acknowledge and move on from.

In an era when the entire nation is passionate about soccer, there were surely husbands nurturing ambitious dreams of having children to one day form their soccer teams. So, what should couples do if they face infertility? Approximately 40% of infertility cases are attributed to the wife’s factors, another 40% to the husband’s, and the remaining cases have unexplained causes. Therefore, it is essential for both partners to undergo testing to identify any underlying issues. Once the problem is understood, it becomes possible to explore appropriate solutions.

It’s important to examine where the issue lies: Is it that the egg or sperm is not being produced in the first place? Is there a blockage or dysfunction in the pathways through which they travel? Could the problem be in the place where they are supposed to meet? Or, even if fertilization occurs, is the embryo unable to implant and grow safely in the uterus?

Today, cutting-edge technologies in reproductive medicine seem to push the boundaries of what it means to be human. Techniques that once felt like science fiction are now part of everyday life. The test-tube baby that caused such a stir some twenty years ago is now a fully integrated member of society.

Thinking back, one cannot help but remember the heartbreaking stories of women from past generations—our mothers and grandmothers—who were shunned or even cast aside for their inability to bear children. How far we’ve come, and yet how much more understanding and compassion we still owe to those who face infertility today.

We now live in a world where in vitro fertilization is no longer viewed as extraordinary or novel. These methods fall under the category of assisted reproductive technology (ART), which includes procedures such as IVF (in vitro fertilization), ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), GIFT (gamete intrafallopian transfer), and ZIFT (zygote intrafallopian transfer). Each of these techniques has an average success rate of around 25 to 30 percent.

Because these procedures often involve stimulating ovulation, there is an increased likelihood of multiple births, particularly twins. However, if future techniques to mature immature eggs outside the body become widely available and practical, this drawback may eventually be eliminated.

Traditional Korean medicine has also explored various approaches to treating infertility. According to this perspective, conception occurs when the father's essence (정, Jing, 精 ) and the mother's blood (혈, Xue, 血) are in harmony. If the father's essence is weak or the mother's blood is insufficient, conception may be difficult.

In this tradition, nourishing the father’s essence is considered essential. Interestingly, the Chinese character for Essence (Jing, 精) is composed of the characters for “rice” (쌀 미, Mi, 米) and “green” or “pure” (푸를 청, Qing, 青), suggesting that balanced nutrition—especially from grains and vegetables—is necessary to build healthy reproductive energy.

In traditional Korean medicine, xuè (血, blood) is believed to be produced when the stomach digests food, which is then steamed by the heat of the heart before being sent to the uterus. At night, the liver stores this blood. Therefore, habits such as skipping meals due to extreme dieting, not sleeping well at night, or experiencing chronic stress can lead to infertility by disrupting this delicate balance.

Frequent abortions are also considered a significant cause of infertility, as they can damage the uterus. In addition, leaving conditions like irregular menstruation or excessive vaginal discharge untreated may also lead to difficulties in conceiving.

There is an old saying that the good deeds of our ancestors bring blessings to their descendants. And now, we find ourselves in an age where even a couple’s inability to conceive may be traced back to the parents’ own lifestyle choices. It makes one reflect on the wisdom of our elders—and how little of it was ever truly wrong.

Photo by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash