So You’re Having Trouble Getting Pregnant: Infertility Overview
The vast majority of couples assume that they will build a family with a child or children to share their joy and love. Unfortunately, not every couple has an easy time becoming pregnant. If a couple has failed to conceive a child or carry a pregnancy to term after twelve months of regular intercourse, that couple will be labeled infertile.
If a couple is concerned about their fertility, they should first look to address those environmental factors that can affect a couple’s ability to conceive, and are directly under their control. Any couple looking to become pregnant should eliminate smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or use of illegal substances. It is also a good idea to address any weight issues, stressful conditions or even possibly rigorous exercise regimes, all of which may be factors in infertility.
Of course, sometimes addressing lifestyle factors will not be enough if there are medical conditions contributing to infertility. While there are both female and male conditions that may affect fertility, more than half of infertility cases are explained by conditions in the woman. Other cases can be due to one or more sperm disorders in the man, and perhaps the most frustrating cases are those for which there appear to be no explainable cause.
In order for a woman to become pregnant, her body needs to ovulate and menstruate properly. Many cases of infertility are caused by ovulation problems. A woman’s age affects her fertility and the health of the eggs she produces during ovulation. Women are born with all of the eggs they will ever produce, and lose about 1,000 of these eggs each month. Thus the ability to conceive naturally decreases over time as part of the normal aging process, because fewer young healthy eggs are available to her.
Older women are also more vulnerable to infertility if they have conditions such as endometriosis or certain sexually transmitted diseases that worsen over time and contribute to infertility. For example, sexually transmitted vaginal or cervical infections such as gonorrhea or chlamydia, when left untreated, can cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (or “PID”). As bacteria from PID progress through a woman’s uterus and into fallopian tubes or into ovaries themselves, scarring can occur that prevents eggs from traveling down the fallopian tubes properly.
Other leading causes of infertility are hormonal. Hormones that are necessary for reproductive health are produced by the hypothalamus, pancreas, ovaries and testes, and the pituitary, adrenal and thyroid glands. Diseases affecting any of these organs or glands in either the man or the woman may be contributing to infertility, and it is therefore recommended that any couple that is having a difficult time conceiving get hormone levels tested. The biggest hormonal disorder that causes infertility is polycystic ovarian syndrome, or “PCOS.” PCOS disrupts the woman’s normal ovulation cycle, either by preventing ovulation or causing irregular ovulation. Fortunately PCOS is often treatable through medications like Metformin which helps the body to absorb insulin, thereby correcting hormone levels that may be contributing to PCOS.
Trying to conceive can be a very stressful thing for a couple if it does not happen right away. Most of the time, a couple can overcome hurdles with just a few environmental changes, reducing stress levels, and gaining an understanding of the woman’s ovulation cycle so as to time intercourse optimally for conception. For a couple with a history of any of the conditions listed above, however, or in the case of a couple with a woman older than 35, it may be best to get a full workup by a fertility specialist to determine the best path for success in building a family.
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