What is infertility?

Infertility is usually defined as not being able to get pregnant after trying for at least one year. Women who are able to get pregnant but then have repeat miscarriages are also said to be infertile. Infertility is a problem for one of every six couples. It can be caused by problems in a man’s or woman’s reproductive system. Problems in the woman’s body are responsible for about half of the cases of infertility. Often the reason for infertility in a woman is that her ovaries are not releasing eggs. For example, when a woman gets older, the ability of the ovaries to release healthy eggs declines, especially after the age of 35. Other things that may affect the eggs and the release of eggs (ovulation) are: hormone problems, overweight or underweight, smoking, too much stress, unhealthy diet, ovarian tumors or cysts, intense exercise, abuse of alcohol or drugs, tumors in the pituitary gland, chronic illness, such as diabetes and some medicines. A woman who is not ovulating normally may have irregular or missed menstrual periods. An abnormal or damaged fallopian tube or uterus can be another cause of infertility. When an egg is released, it must pass through a fallopian tube to the uterus. A man’s sperm must join with (fertilize) the egg along the way. The fertilized egg must then attach to the inside of the uterus. A fallopian tube or uterus may be damaged by an infection, such as a sexually transmitted disease, a birth defect in the female organs, growths in the uterus, such as polyps or fibroids, scar tissue from surgery (called adhesions), endometriosis which is tissue from the uterus growing outside the uterus, DES syndrome, which you may have if your mother took the medicine DES when she was pregnant with you. You may have problems with your cervix that make it hard for the sperm to reach and fertilize the egg, such as cervical stenosis (a cervix that is very narrow or closed), abnormal cervical mucous, cervicitis, which is inflammation or infection of the cervix. In rare cases, a woman’s body is allergic to sperm and destroys it. Some rare genetic problems also cause infertility. Thirty percent of infertility cases have no known cause.