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Infertility Health Channel

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Infertility

Definition

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.

Alternative Names

Inability to conceive; Unable to get pregnant

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Causes of infertility include a wide range of both physical and emotional factors. A couple's infertility may be due to female factors, male factors, or both:

FEMALE INFERTILITY:

Female infertility may be due to:

  • Problems with a fertilized egg or embryo being able to survive once it is attached to the lining of the uterus
  • Problems with the eggs being able to attach to the lining of the uterus
  • Problems with the eggs being able to move from the ovary to the uterus
  • Problems with the ovaries producing eggs

Female infertility may be caused by:

MALE INFERTILITY:

Male infertility may be due to:

  • A decrease in the number of sperm
  • Sperm being blocked from being released
  • Sperm that do not work properly

Male infertility can be caused by:

In healthy couples both under age 30, having sex regularly, the chance of getting pregnant is only 25 - 30% per month. A woman's peak fertility occurs in her early 20s. As a woman ages beyond 35 (and especially after age 40), the likelihood of getting pregnant drops to less than 10% per month.

When to seek help for infertility depend

...

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Semen analysis (6 Videos, 2 Images) (Doctor-Reviewed information)
Semen analysis is a test to measure the amount and quality of a man's semen and sperm. Semen is the thick, white, sperm-containing fluid released during ejaculation. The test is sometimes called a sperm count.Reviewer: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.Date: 05/21/2008
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Infertility - resources (3 Videos, 3 Images) (Doctor-Reviewed information)
The following organizations are good resources for information on infertility: American Society for Reproductive Medicine - www.asrm.org; RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association - www.resolve.org; Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology - www.sart.org. Reviewer: A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Greg Juhn, MTPW, David R. Eltz. Previously reviewed by Jennifer K. Mannheim, CPNP, private practice, Seattle, Washington (2/27/2009). Date: 07/14/2009
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P. Monna Khanna: One year, when you are talking about the diagnosis of infertility, one year is an important milestone. Most experts define infertility for...
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Infertility: What is it? Dr. John A. Schnorr: Infertility is a diagnosis which is generally started with the inability of a couple of reproductive age to c...
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Dr. Roger Lobo of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine discusses various methods of coping with infertility.
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Dr. Roger Lobo, of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine explains the causes of female infertility.
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Dr. Roger Lobo of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine covers causes of male infertility.
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Women come to doctors seeking help for a number of reasons and again, there are a number of aspects of polycystic ovary syndrome that might draw a woman to...
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The Doctors and Everyday Health reveal the common causes of infertility.
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Estelle Matthews: In today's society, couples tend to have children much later in life. This can lead to an increasing number of difficulties when trying t...
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Male: Well, sometimes, the chromosomes on X and the extra are morethere are things like Klinefelter and all of these things, discuss that a little bit abou...
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Host: How do families know if they are ready for adoption? Marilyn Regier: The first thing I usually suggest is to ask yourself, Am I generally joyful abou...
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Dr. William Schoolcraft, founder and medical director of the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, details tests to determine the specific cause(s) of...
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Dr. Roger Lobo of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine discusses the various treatments for infertility.
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What Is Endometriosis? Dr. Tori Hudson: Yeah and its good to kind of know the basics about endometriosis. The basics of endometriosis is what normally slou...
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