When you’re young, sexually active, and not looking to have children, there’s always that worry in the back of your head that you might get pregnant. Even when you’re using protection—and we really hope you are—if your period is a day late, you feel uneasy. But getting pregnant is harder than you think. And for couples who are trying to conceive, it can be stressful and emotionally draining.
Infertility can affect both men and women. It’s usually defined as the inability to conceive after a year or more of unprotected sex; for women over the age of 35, infertility is not being able to get pregnant after six months of unprotected sex. This extends to women who are able to conceive but not carry a pregnancy to term. A person who’s never been able to get pregnant is diagnosed with primary infertility; secondary infertility is when someone gets pregnant at least once.
In case you’ve forgotten everything you learned in biology class, this is a quick refresher on how people get pregnant: During ovulation, a woman’s body releases an egg. Sperm needs to join with an egg for fertilization to happen. The fertilized egg travels along the fallopian tube toward the womb and the egg needs to attach to the uterus. If a problem occurs along the way, infertility may happen.
Common infertility causes in women
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is perhaps the most common cause of infertility in women. Small cysts appear on the ovaries because of a hormonal imbalance. As a result, women with PCOS often experience irregular periods.
- Endometriosis is also a possible cause: It is a disorder in which the tissue that typically lines the inside of your uterus is growing outside of it instead. This can affect the tissue lining your pelvis, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. Pregnancy might be difficult to achieve because the fallopian tubes may be blocked, implantation may be disrupted, and the pelvis might be inflamed, and so on.
- Untreated sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can also play a role in infertility. Gonorrhea and chlamydia can cause scarring in the fallopian tubes, increasing the risk that an egg and sperm won’t be able to meet because it’ll be blocked. Growths in the reproductive system like uterine fibroids, cysts, and polyps can also have the same effect.
- Women are born with all the eggs they’re going to have. Though there are exceptions, in a typical reproductive story, 90 percent of the eggs are considered “normal” in your 20s; when you’re in your 40s, 90 percent are “abnormal.” This means that the longer you wait to get pregnant, the greater the chance of having abnormal eggs to conceive.
- There are plenty of other reasons why women might be having trouble getting pregnant. These include: disorders of the endocrine system, premature menopause, cancer treatments, and so on.
Common infertility causes in men
To check how male factors are contributing to infertility, a sperm analysis is usually conducted. According to the CDC, “when a semen analysis is performed, the number of sperm (concentration), motility (movement), and morphology (shape) are assessed by a specialist.” Below are some common causes:
- Trauma in the testes, varicoceles (a condition in which the veins on the testicles are large and cause them to overheat, which can affect the number and shape of the sperm), undescended testicles, genetic defects, and other health problems can affect sperm production.
- There are also hormonal factors to be considered: These can lead to abnormalities in the pituitary gland, hypothalamus, and testicles.
- Medical treatments, like chemotherapy, can “impair sperm-producing cells.”
- Environmental factors also play a role in infertility in men. The Mayo Clinic states, “Cigarette smoking, alcohol, marijuana, anabolic steroids, and taking medications to treat bacterial infections, high blood pressure and depression can affect fertility. Frequent exposure to heat, such as in saunas or hot tubs, can raise body temperature and may affect sperm production.”
Though men and women experience fertility, it is the latter who are thought to suffer from it when a couple has a difficult time getting pregnant (we have gender inequality to thank for that). A report from the World Health Organization explains, “Infertility has significant negative social impacts on the lives of infertile couples and particularly women, who frequently experience violence, divorce, social stigma, emotional stress, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.”
Treatment for infertility is different for every person and should be discussed with a doctor.
Sources: Mayo Clinic, Healthline, CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), SELF
