The act of conception is a complicated chain of events—one misstep and everything falls apart. So it’s no wonder that 12 percent of women each year have trouble getting pregnant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When a couple doesn’t succeed after a year of trying, or if the woman has repeat miscarriages, that’s called infertility.

Infertility can be traced back to either the male or the female. Because of a genetic flaw, illness, or injury, a man may produce too little sperm or none at all, or produce sperm with a mobility problem. Without the normal ability to swim, sperm are unable to make their way to the egg to fertilize it. In women, infertility is often the result of an ovulation issue. A blocked fallopian tube (typically caused by pelvic inflammatory disease or endometriosis) or uterine fibroids can prevent the egg from reaching the uterus. Age is another factor for women, as the number of healthy eggs for ovulation declines slowly every year after age 35 and rapidly after age 40.

Fortunately, the field of assisted reproductive technology has grown enormously over the past decade. Doctors can now prescribe medications to regulate the hormones that govern ovulation. They are also able to perform in vitro fertilization to improve a couple’s chances. These days, two out of three couples who are treated for infertility go on to have children.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

  1. Some 20 percent of women wait until after age 35 to begin families, which is one reason the number of infertile couples has risen. One in three couples in which the woman is over age 35 has problems with childbearing.
  2. Lifestyle factors, such as diet, weight, stress, multiple sexual partners, and exposure to environmental toxins, may increase the likelihood of infertility.
  3. Infertility is an issue of the male in about 30 percent of cases.