The primary function of your reproductive system is to ensure that there are future generations to carry on your genetic characteristics.

The reproductive system:

• Produces egg and sperm cells
• Transports and sustains these cells
• Nurtures the developing child
• Produces hormones

The female reproductive system consists of internal and external organs, including mammary glands (breasts), ovaries, uterus, cervix, and vagina.

The ovaries produce, store, and release eggs into the fallopian tubes during ovulation. They also produce estrogen and progesterone which are responsible for women’s secondary sexual characteristics such as breast development and the onset of menstruation. Fallopian tubes provide the path for the egg to move from the ovaries to the uterus. The cervix is located between the uterus and the vagina. The uterus is home to a growing fetus until birth. The strong uterine muscles help push the baby out through the vagina during labor. External organs include the breasts and vagina.

The male system includes the penis, testes, duct system (epididymis and vas deferens), and the seminal vesticles and prostate gland. In addition to the reproductive system, the penis is also part of the male urinary system, containing the urethra which moves urine from the bladder to the outside of the body.

The testes, or testicles, produce and store millions of sperm cells as well as produce testosterone, the male hormone responsible for men’s secondary sexual characteristics such as beards, lower voices, and larger muscles. The testes are protected by a sac called the scrotum which controls the temperature of the sperm. If it gets too warm, it does not develop properly. A sperm is made up of a head, which contains the DNA information, and tail to help it swim to the female’s egg. The fluid containing the sperm is called semen.

Infertility heartbreak

“Infertility, or the inability to conceive a child, is a common condition affecting between 12 and 14 percent of couples,” says Brad VanVoorhis, M.D., UI Hospitals and Clinics reproductive endocrinologist.

• A couple is considered infertile if they have tried for more than 12 months to conceive a child.
• Both males and females can have fertility problems:
• About one-third of infertility cases can be attributed to male factors
• About one third to female factors,
• The remaining one-third to a combination of problems in both partners. These are unexplained in about 20 percent of cases.

“Treatments for male infertility are designed to improve semen parameters, increasing the chances for natural conception or allowing for assisted reproductive technologies, or to surgically retrieve sperm from men who do not have sperm in their ejaculate, says Moshe Wald, M.D., UI Hospitals and Clinics male infertility specialist. “Various medical and/or surgical treatments for male infertility may be performed, according to the underlying male fertility problem.”

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is any procedure that uses high technology to combine sperm and eggs. The most common ART procedure is in vitro fertilization (IVF).

In IVF, eggs are surgically removed from the ovary and mixed with sperm outside the body. When the eggs become fertilized (embryos), they are placed in the women’s uterus.

UI Reproductive Services 

• For men, contact Moshe Wald, M.D., UI Hospitals and Clinics male infertility specialist, at 319-356-1974.
• For women, contact the Center for Advanced Reproductive Care, at 319-356-8483 or Reproductive Endocrinology at 319-356-1767.