Unfortunately fertility or infertility is not an uncommon problem. Actually it’s quite common. Approximately 1 in 10 or 2 in 10 couples will require some fertility assistance at some point in time in their life which is not a low figure. It’s somewhere between 10 to 20% most of the study is quoting 15%to be the figure. Actually we have some estimated figures from the WHO where they reported approximately 48 million couples worldwide are suffering from some form of infertility or might require fertility assistance. We are unfortunately seeing this number is increasing with time. Some possibly we might attribute that for couples starting to think of starting a family a little bit later in life because obviously people would like to finish their education, to reach a specific level in their career before starting to think about starting a family. Unfortunately time is not very forgiving when it comes to fertility for both men and women but unfortunately more for women. The main reason behind that is that every lady is born with a specific number of eggs, so every baby girl is born with a specific number of eggs that is not going to increase, actually it’s going to start dropping with time and every time a lady ovulates, she’s ovulating an egg which is the same age as her age. I mean by that a lady who’s ovulating at the age of 40, she’s ovulating an egg which is 40 years of age and with time, those starts getting some chromosomal abnormalities which is considered one of the main reasons for eggs failing to fertilize or for pregnancies not to happen. So these are the main reasons for fertility and in general that’s why we advise couples to have fertility treatment, if they have been trying for a year or two which is the definition of infertility, to start seeking medical help at that point in time.
Unfortunately fertility or infertility of fertility is not an uncommon problem, actually it is quite common. Approximately one in ten couples will require some fertility assistance at some point in time in their life which is not a low figure – it is somewhere to range between 10 to 20% – most of the studies quote 15% to be the figure. Actually we have some estimated figures from the WHO where they reported up to 48 million people worldwide are suffering some form of infertility or might require fertility assistance. We are unfortunately seeing this number increasing with time. Some possibly we might attribute that to couples starting to think about family a little bit later in life because obviously people would like to reach a specific level in their career to think about starting a family. Unfortunately time is not very forgiving when it comes to fertility for both men and women but unfortunately more for women. The main reason behind that is that every lady is born with a specific number of eggs. So, every baby girl is born with a specific number of eggs that is not going to increase. Actually it is going to start dropping with time and every time a lady ovulates, she ovulates an egg which is the same age as her age. I meant that if a lady ovulates at age of 40, she is ovulating at 40 years of age. With time, those eggs will start to get some chromosomal abnormalities which is considered one of the main reasons for eggs failing to fertilise or for pregnancies not to happen. So, these are the main reasons for fertility and in general that’s why we advise the couple to have the fertility treatment if they have tried for a year or two which is a definition of infertility to start seeking medical help at that point in time.
Infertility is traditionally defined as the inability to conceive after at least 12 months of active attempts at conception. This involves attempts of vaginal sexual intercourse during the fertile days of the cycle (a couple of days around ovulation) without the use of contraception. Many scientific societies and practitioners recommend diagnosing infertility earlier, at 6 months of attempts in women of advanced reproductive age (over 35 years). Infertility is more common than most people think, with approximately 1 in 6 couples being affected. This is due to the plethora of intertwined systems and mechanisms in both partners that are responsible for successful conception, and thus, many potential underlying factors may be responsible for the manifestation of infertility.
Infertility becomes more prevalent in women as they age, with a considerable increase in its incidence after the age of 35. This is true for men as well, although there is a wider range of fertile years. Infertility is also more common among women who suffer from endometriosis, with up to 30-50% of female factor infertility cases also having concurrent endometriosis. Infertility is also more common in women with uterine fibroids, particularly submucosal ones, meaning those that are close to the uterine lining. These fibroids are known to distort the normal anatomy of the uterine cavity and impair embryo implantation, thus ultimately leading to the manifestation of infertility. Finally, infertility is very common among women with cycle irregularities. Since cycle irregularities are usually caused by an underlying systematic condition (PCOS, hypogonadism, etc.), they are likely to affect ovarian function and ultimately lead to infertility.
Regarding male fertility, it is more prevalent in men who also have sexual dysfunctions, such as retrograde ejaculation or erectile dysfunction. This is because such disorders frequently imply an underlying anatomical or endocrine abnormality in the reproductive system, which may also manifest as infertility. It is important to note that in many cases, sexual dysfunctions and performance anxiety are not necessarily related to infertility. Finally, infertility is more common in men who systematically smoke and consume alcohol. Smoking is known to affect blood flow in the body, thus also affecting blood flow to the reproductive organs. On the other hand, alcohol in excess tends to exert a gonadotoxic effect, impairing sperm function and thus affecting fertility.
Overall, infertility is quite common in the general population and even more common in specific patient subgroups. If you suspect infertility, do not hesitate to contact a Reproductive Specialist today.
About one in seven couples struggle with infertility and unfortunately that is becoming more and more common. In terms of definition, I’m gonna cheat and remind myself but it is in essence, the way I would explain it is a difficulty in conceiving naturally over a period of time and that period of time will really depend on how old you are. I think that not getting pregnant naturally over a year is not going to be unusual if you’re 43 but about 80 to 90% of women who are 30 will get pregnant naturally within a year so, the duration at which you should worry really depends on how old you are when you’re trying.
we human beings are a really fertile species. If you take a percentage of around 85% of couples trying to conceive in the first year, they will be successful doing that within 12 months. However, only 15% of these couples will have difficulty conceiving.
To begin, infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected and regular intercourse. Infertility affects about 15-20% of couples worldwide. Male factor is responsible for 30% of all causes but it can reach 50% if we add to this the causes which are also “female causes”.
Infertility is a inability for a couple to achieve pregnancy when after one year of half of active sexual life without any contraceptive methods they don’t succeed. The definition is supported by demographic studies that show how 80% of couples get pregnant within a year after trying and this percentage reaches 90% after two years. More couples than ever have trouble having a child today. It’s estimated that between 10 to 50 % of couples of child-bearing ages will have some difficulty getting pregnant worldwide; this translates to some 60 or 80 million couples. 1 million in England or France, 6 million in the United States and 700 to 800 thousand in Spain more or less.
