Most people will have the strong desire to conceive a child at some point during their lifetime. Understanding what defines normal fertility is crucial to helping a person, or couple, know when it is time to seek help. Most couples (approximately 85%) will achieve pregnancy within one year of trying, with the greatest likelihood of conception occurring during the earlier months. Only an additional 7% of couples will conceive in the second year.
Causes of Infertility
- Advancing maternal age
- Advancing maternal age
- Tubal occlusion (blockage)
- Uterine fibroids
- Endometrial polyps
- Endometriosis
- Unexplained/other
Symptoms of infertility
For women, those factors can include:
- Painful or irregular periods (menstrual cycle).
- Age (older than 35).
- Endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease (diseases of a woman’s sex organs).
- Cancer treatment.
For men, factors include:
- Infections.
- A low sperm count (a higher count increases the chance the sperm and egg will meet).
- Problems with your male sex organs (such as undescended testicles, enlarged prostate, and varicoceles, or enlarged veins in the skin that surround a man’s testicles).
- Cancer treatment.