One in eight U.S. couples of childbearing age has difficulty conceiving or carrying a pregnancy to term.
In addition to the medical aspects of infertility, psychological and financial stresses also complicate a diagnosis of infertility. At Fertility Answers, the medical team plays an active role in the treatment of each patient and in determining infertility causes. We work together with the patient and partner to develop a treatment plan that will make the best use of the resources available to solve the problem as quickly, safely and inexpensively as possible.
Infertility results from an abnormality or disease of the reproductive system, in either a male or a female or both, that inhibits the ability to conceive and deliver a child. Infertility is the inability to conceive after one year of trying with unprotected intercourse for couples in which the female is under 35 and six months of trying for couples in which the female is over 35.
Infertility causes can often be attributed to both partners.
Approximately one in eight couples are affected by infertility and there are a number of factors, both male and female, that can cause the condition. In fact, in nearly 30% of cases the cause is attributed to the female, in 30% the cause is attributed to the male, in 30% the infertility cause is attributed to both partners and in 10% of cases the cause is unknown.
Female infertility causes can include many different factors. Age is often a leading factor as egg quality and quantity are drastically reduced as a woman nears menopausal age. Other infertility issues in women are hormonally related or structurally related. In men, fertility causes are almost always related to sperm.
Once the cause of infertility has been determined, a plan can be customized for the patient to fit their unique situation and move them along on the path to conceiving a child. In fact, nearly 90% of infertility cases are treatable with medical therapies such as drug treatment, surgical repair of reproductive organs and assisted reproductive techniques such as in vitro fertilization.
- Infertility: An Overview (ASRM Fact Sheet)
- How Doctors Evaluate Infertility in Women (ASRM Fact Sheet)
