Symptoms from Infertility – Definitions

When a couple is unable to become pregnant after 12 months of unprotected intercourse, they are considered infertile. Infertility is the incapacity to procreate.

Couples have different reactions to the news of being infertile. The news can be particularly hard on couples that are without children.

Infertile couples who’ve never had children are classified under primary infertility.

In another light, secondary infertility refers to couples who had successfully gotten pregnant before but are now having problems conceiving.

The Man Factor

Various factors, both emotional and physical, can lead to infertility.

“Male factors” like hormone deficiency, low sperm count, impotence, retrograde ejaculation, environmental pollutants and scarring from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) cause roughly 30 to 40% of infertility cases.

Sperm count may be negatively influenced by marijuana abuse or use of prescription drugs, like cimetidine, spironolactone, and nitrofurantoin.

Femaleness

Scarring from STDs, hormonal imbalances, ovulation dysfunction, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, poor nutrition, pelvic infection, tumors, and fallopian tube abnormality are examples of “female factors.” These make up between 40 and 50 % of infertility problems among couples.

Risk factors contributed by both the male and the female, in addition to other unknown causes, comprise 10 to 30% of infertility cases.

It is estimated that just 10 to 20% of couples fail to conceive after a year. It is very crucial for couples to contine trying to have a baby at least for 12 months.

Factors Related To Age

Healthy partners both below 30 years of age having intercourse regularly only have a 25 to 30% probability every month to become pregnant. A woman is most fertile when she’s in her 20s. The likelihood of pregnancy for women above 35 years old is less than 10% each month, even less for those beyond 40 years old.

Other Causes Not Age Related

It is not just age or its related factors that causes infertility. Infertility may also be increased due to the following:

* Having more than one sexual partner (high STD risk)
* Sexually transmitted infections
* Pelvic inflammatory disease history
* History of epididymitis or orchitis in men
* Men who’ve suffered mumps before
* Abnormal vein enlargement in scrotum
* Health history citing DES exposure (both sexes)
* Eating disorders among women
* Anovulation and irregular menstruation
* Endometriosis
* Problems with the uterus or the cervix
* Long-term disease like diabetes

Other Useful Information

Click here to know more on how to increase chances of pregnancy .

Click here to find out more about insurance coverage for infertility .