Sterility

“ The condition of sterility in man may arise either from a condition of the secretion which deprives it of its fecundating powers or it may spring from a malformation which prevents it reaching the point where fecundation takes place. The former condition is most common in old age, and is a sequence of venereal disease, or from a change in the structure or functions of the glands. ”

“ My experience in the mysteries of sterility in women has informed me of yet another cause of only-child-sterility, met with in cases in which the only child was born after several years of unsuccessful marital intercourse. 563In most of these cases, the wife has finally been impelled to seek a substitute for her husband, whose reproductive powers have proved insufficient; having succeeded in obtaining the child she desires, the wife does not again wander in strange pastures, and consequently remains sterile. ”

“ Amongst the causes which determine the sterility of women may be taken the obstruction in the uterus by clots of blood, the accumulation of water, [1] the want of or defective sperm of the man, organic malformation of in women that are very corpulent, so that their uterus stagnation of the courses and the corruption of the menstrual fluid, and the habitual presence of wind in the uterus. Other savants attribute the sterility of women to the action of spirits and spells. ”

“ The significant fact upon which an understanding of the nature of only-child-sterility must be based, is that the first delivery is the one which entails the greatest dangers to the mother, and that the subsequent sterility is attributable to the difficult delivery, and to the illnesses that follow in its train. ”

“ As a variety of the third kind of sterility, sterility due to incapacity for implantation or further development of the ovum, must be classed the cases in which, though conception and implantation of the ovum are known to occur, and the first stages of development of the embryo certainly take place, the woman proves incapable of giving birth to a viable infant. ”

“ Although the subject of sterility has attracted the attention of the medical profession; and although much has been written on its causes and treatment, it cannot be claimed that the practical results obtained up to the present time are satisfactory, or that when consulted for sterility, the medical man of today can hold out to his patient much more hope of successful treatment than the medical man of fifty years ago. ”

“ We are not justified in speaking of the existence of actual sterility until three years of marital intercourse have failed to result in conception; still, when the commencement of the first pregnancy is delayed for more than sixteen months after marriage, there is considerable probability that the woman is sterile ”

“ The most frequent causes of sterility in women are inflammation of the lining membrane of the uterus, or of the neck of the uterus, or of both. The source of this condition in women who have had children is most frequently due to parturition or abortion. ”

“ If the medical man makes it his rule, in all cases in which he is consulted on account of sterility, in deciding how far this sterility is dependent on the condition of the husband, not to confine himself solely to the customary questions, whether intercourse is regularly practised, whether before or after menstruation, etc.—but if in every case he makes a careful examination of the semen under the microscope, he will be astonished to learn the comparative frequency with which he will note the complete or nearly complete absence of spermatozoa. ”

“ The civilization of the present day, with its shady side, has made it necessary for us to pay an increasing attention to facultative sterility, dependent upon the use during intercourse of means for the prevention of conception; and very recently the surgical tendency of modern gynecology has brought into being a new variety of sterility in women, viz., operative sterility. ”

“ The sterility which so generally attends the crossing of two specific forms is to be distinguished as of two kinds, which, although often confounded by naturalists, are in reality quite distinct. For the sterility may obtain between the two parent species when first crossed, or it may first assert itself in their hybrid progeny. In the latter case the hybrids, although possibly produced without any appearance of infertility on the part of their parent species, nevertheless prove more or less infertile among themselves, and also with members of either parent species. ”

“ It appears as if fertility depended on such a delicate adjustment of the male and female elements to each other, that, unless constantly kept up by the preservation of the most fertile individuals, sterility is always liable to arise. ”

“ Lier and Ascher also class as instances of only-child-sterility those cases in which a woman has had a single miscarriage, and subsequently remained sterile, since by this miscarriage the capacity of the woman for impregnation has been proved, and the question of capacity for full-term delivery has nothing to do with that of capacity for conception. As causes of this form of sterility, they lay especial stress upon puerperal infection, gonorrhoeal infection, perimetritis, tubo-ovarian tumours, etc. ”

“ In both cases the sterility is independent of general health, and is often accompanied by excess of size or great luxuriance. In both cases, the sterility occurs in various degrees; in both, the male element is the most liable to be affected; but sometimes the female more than the male. ”

“ By sterility in women we understand the pathological state in which a woman who is sexually mature fails to conceive, notwithstanding frequently repeated, normal sexual intercourse throughout a considerable period of time. ”

“ The evidence already adduced as to the extreme susceptibility of the reproductive system, and the curious irregularity with which infertility or sterility appears in the crosses between some varieties or species while quite absent in those between others, seem to indicate that sterility is a characteristic which has a constant tendency to appear, either by itself or in correlation with other characters. It is known to be especially liable to occur under changed conditions of life ”

“ Deformed genital organs and obstructions of the os by growths and scar tissue are causes of sterility in the female.
Failure to breed is commonly caused by faulty methods of feeding and care. Over-feeding and insufficient exercise may result in the body tissues becoming loaded with fat. This may cause a temporary sterility, but if persisted in, as is frequently the case in show animals, the sterility becomes permanent because of the genital glands failing to secrete ova and spermatozoa, or the lack of vitality of the male and female elements. ”

“ Why at some certain period a people should be smitten with sterility is a mysterious fact, for which the explanation must be postponed until we become better acquainted with the many enigmas which surround the process of reproduction. ”

“ The next greatest calamity is to have one only.' From my professional experience I am happy to testify that more women seek to overcome causes of sterility than to obtain knowledge of limiting the size of the family or means to destroy the embryo. ”

“ Before any but the vaguest ideas regarding the nature and significance of inter-specific sterility can be formed, a vast amount of detailed work must be done. Sterility as a result of crossing, as well as that which is alleged sometimes to arise in consequence of changed conditions, is at best a negative characteristic, and there are endless opportunities for mistake and misinterpretation in studying features of this kind. ”

“ Sterility in Women. When we study the history of human civilization we find that sterility in women is regarded, not merely as a misfortune, but as a reproach. Among savage races, and in the Orient, where the position of women is one of strict subordination, she does not attain an honourable status until she becomes a mother. ”

“ Definition of Sterility—Husband Should First be Examined—One-child Sterility—The Fertile Woman—Salpingitis as a Cause of Sterility—Leucorrhea and Sterility—Displacement of Uterus and Sterility—Closure of Neck of Womb and Sterility—Sterility and Constitutional Disease—Treatment of Sterility.
Sterility or barrenness is a condition of inability to have children. In former years the opinion prevailed generally, whenever a couple was childless, that the fault was exclusively the woman's. It wasn't even thought that the man could be to blame. We now know that in at least fifty per cent. ”

“ Sterility.—Sterility denotes the incapacity for procreation of children; is also applicable to both sexes, but more usually in reference to the female. A person may be impotent without being sterile, although the former is usually regarded as implying the latter. On the other hand, a person may be sterile without being impotent, the former not necessarily denoting the latter. ”

“ The diagnosis whether in an individual case we have to do with sterility dependent upon impotentia gestandi, is often difficult, because the conditions which cause it are frequently associated with those which cause sterility by preventing the contact of ovum and spermatozoon. ”

“ It is sometimes, however, possible, even where there is sterility in the male, providing the secretion is not entirely devoid of life properties on part of the husband, to have children, but these are exceptions.
11. No man need hesitate about matrimony on account of sterility, unless that condition arises from a permanent and absolute degeneration of his functions.
12. Impotence from mental and moral causes often takes place. Persons of highly nervous organization may suffer incapacity in their sexual organs. The remedy for these difficulties is rest and change of occupation. ”

“ Williams, W. W. (16) , studied the semen with reference to sterility, emphasizing the importance of its examination in the diagnosis, giving methods for collecting samples, staining of sperms, and some of the abnormalities encountered. The work is fundamental, and should be of great practical importance to all interested in the problem. ”

“ Many young women as the result of the preparation of the trosseau, augmented by a round of gaities at the time of marriage, enter the married state in a condition bordering on physical and nervous exhaustion; and then begin engorgements and inflammations which lead to future suffering and to sterility. Displacements and flexions of the uterus also cause sterility. Such displacements of the neck of the uterus may occur that, instead of lying in a pool of semen, as it should, it is above, in front of, or away from it, and this may prevent conception. ”

“ It is estimated that forty-five per cent. of sterile marriages are due to that seemingly mild disease which is regarded as no worse than a cold and which has been contracted either by the man or the woman. This disease does not disqualify the woman alone, as was formerly thought, for recent investigations have proven that twenty-five per cent. of the sterile marriages are due to sterility of the male. ”

“ The voluntary adoption of preventive precautions may not be, however, the only method by which the birth-rate has declined; we may have also to recognize a concomitant physiological sterility, induced by delayed marriage and its various consequences; we have also to recognize pathological sterility due to the impaired vitality and greater liability to venereal disease of an increasingly urban life; and we may have to recognize that stocks differ from one another in fertility. ”

“ You admit that variations in fertility and sterility occur, and I think you will also admit that if I demonstrate that a considerable amount of sterility would be advantageous to a variety, that is sufficient proof that the slightest variation in that direction would be useful also, and would go on accumulating. ”

“ Where no means have been used to prevent conception, and the young wife has remained childless for a period of three years, there is adequate ground for a reasonable fear that causes exist, either in the husband or in the wife, which are likely to result in permanent sterility, and then no time should be lost to discover and remove the cause or causes.
The earlier years of married life are usually more fruitful than the years later on. Even where marriage is contracted after twenty-five years of age, the tendency towards sterility is easily perceptible. ”

“ To produce children is the object of marriage, though this object is sometimes frustrated. Among the different causes of sterility there are some alike common to men and women; but as in men they are more apparent, to men they are more commonly attributed. In both sexes, sterility is occasioned either by an inherent defect in the conformation of the organs, or by accidental injuries to the organs themselves. Among men, the most essential imperfections in the conformation are those which affect the testicles, or those parts called the erectores penis. ”

“ It is said that the dissemination of venereal diseases has caused an increase of sterility; that luxurious living lowers fecundity, and so on. It is impossible to take the time to analyze the many explanations of this sort which have been offered, and which are familiar to the reader; we must content ourselves with saying that evidence of a great many kinds, largely statistical and, in our opinion, reliable, indicates that physiological causes play a minor part in the decrease of the birth-rate. ”