For Would-Be Mothers

Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. . . . And the Lord remembered Sarah as He had said. . . . And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age.--Genesis, 18-21.

Few childless wives keep up their hopes as long as Sarah did, but last week would-be parents had good news: with the proper medical care and two years' experiment, more than 30% of childless marriages need not be barren. How to achieve these results is explained in a simple, authoritative new book about the causes and cures of sterility--Facts for Childless Couples (C. C. Thomas; $2). The author: Endocrinologist Edwin Crowell Hamblen, of Duke University, an outstanding authority in his field (and the father of two children).

Sperm Meets Egg. One important contributing factor in sterility. Dr. Hamblen claims, is the fact that few people understand even the mechanics of conception. Spermatozoa (self-propelled male germs), when deposited in the female cervix (neck of the uterus), swim into the uterine cavity, then up through the pencil-sized fallopian tubes.

Near the feathery upper end of the tubes, one sperm cell may be lucky enough to merge with an ovum or egg cell which has been discharged from the nearby ovaries. After this fortunate meeting, the fertilized egg then proceeds back through the tube into the uterus, and burrows into the uterine lining: baby is on its way. This process may be prevented by a number of disorders which occur about as often in husbands as in wives. Therefore Dr. Hamblen urges that men be examined as routinely as women.

Sterile Women. Chief cause of barrenness in women is obstruction of the fallopian tubes. Tube closures are caused by gonorrhea, bungled abortions, other infections. About half of them cannot be repaired. Other closures can be opened by flushing iodized oil through the tubes. Sometimes a woman needs as many as ten or 15 oil treatments before conception occurs.

Next to closed tubes, the most common cause of infertility is infection of the cervix. This can usually be cleared up by good medical care. Sometimes doses of thyroid extract are needed to stimulate the ovaries. Treatment with ovarian hormones (estrogen and progestin), says the doctor, plays "no significant part in the treatment of sterility." Of course, if both ovaries have been mutilated or removed, a woman is permanently barren.

Sterile Men. Sexual potency in men is no sign of fertility, says Dr. Hamblen. In fact, overactivity may cause sterility for long periods of time. Underlying cause of male sterility is production of sluggish, weak, or scanty spermatozoa (there should be about 60 to 100 million sperms per cubic centimeter).

This reproductive debility may be over come by a variety of treatments, including thyroid pills, and especially a quiet, moderate life with plenty of exercise and nutritious food. (Farmers, says Dr. Hamblen, seldom have to worry.) Temporary sterility may be caused by fever, or a heavy dose of sulfanilamide. Serious physical hurts, such as damaged testes, are usually irreparable. Sometimes sperm ducts, like fallopian tubes, become obstructed, can occasionally be opened by a catheter.

Among the popular but useless sterility "cures" are: 1) doses of male sex hormones, which only increase libido but "very rarely" stimulate production of spermatozoa; 2) vitamin pills. Writes Dr. Hamblen: "Many barrels of wheat germ oil [rich in Vitamin E] have been consumed by childless couples. [There] is no evidence that a single child owes its generation to wheat germ oil."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.