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The general understanding of the word “INFERTILITY” is that despite regular sexual intercourse, without any form of contraception, a couple is unable to get pregnancy. Infertility means not being able to get pregnant after one year of trying OR six months, if a woman is 35 or older. Women who can get pregnant but are unable to stay pregnant may also be infertile.
It is estimated that one in six couples face difficulties in conceiving. If you have had unprotected regular sex for more than 12 months (or six months - if you are over 35) and are still not pregnant, you should start thinking about possible causes for your infertility.
Infertility can be primary or secondary. Primary infertility describes couples who have never been able to become pregnant after at least 1 year of unprotected sex (intercourse).
Secondary infertility describes couples who have been pregnant at least once, but have not been able to become pregnant again.
Infertility Statistics
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 According to National Survey of Family Growth, CDC 1995, approximately 6.1 million women and their partners in the U.S. are affected by infertility, i.e., 10% of the total reproductive-age population.
Men and women both are equally affected by infertility.
85% to 90% infertility cases can be treated with regular medical treatments such as medication or surgery.
While in some cases, assisted reproduction techniques such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) are used which cost about 0.07% of U.S. health care costs.
There are many different causes of infertility. It is well known that in 35% of cases the infertility cause will be found in female partner; in 35% of cases male factor is the main cause of infertility; in approximately 20% of couples there may be problems in both partners and in approximately 10% of cases no problem will be found and yet infertility persists (“unexplained infertility”).
Reproductive system is very complicated and is it is disturbed with any factor, several levels of the reproductive system could be damaged. Unfortunately there could be many different causes for infertility including male and female factors. In most cases comprehensive disgnosis and several tests should be done for discovering the real cause of infertility in each couple.
Female reproductive system is pretty complicated and it is not easy to discover all infertility components. The cause of female infertility can be difficult to diagnose but modern medicine developed several very effective methods for female infertility treatments. Once the cause is discovered, the treatment should be implemented immediately.
The most common female infertility factor is an ovulation disorder. Other causes of female infertility include blocked fallopian tubes, which can occur when a woman has had pelvic inflammatory disease or endometriosis. Congenital anomalies (birth defects) involving the structure of the uterus and uterine fibroids are associated with repeated miscarriages.
Potential causes of male infertility include:
- Complete absence of sperm (azoospermia)
- Low sperm count (oligospermia)
- Abnormal sperm shape (teratozoospermia)
- Problems with sperm movement (asthenozoospermia)
- Sperm that is completely immobile (necrozoospermia); the sperm may be alive and not moving, or they may be dead
- Problems with sperm delivery, due to sexual dysfunction, an obstruction, previous vasectomy, or retrograde ejaculation
- Problems with erections or other sexual problems
There are a variety of conditions that may lead to male infertility. The most common cause of male infertility is varicoceles. A varicocele is a varicose vein found in the scrotum. The extra heat caused by the vein can lead to low sperm count and impaired sperm movement.
Approximately 10% of infertile women suffer from unexplained infertility. This simply means that the commonly performed tests to diagnose the cause of infertility are all normal and do not define the reason for infertility.
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