Infertility: Primary causes and how to deal with it

Infertility has various causes, and figuring out which applies to you may be very simple or intricate. Previously, only women were blamed for infertility, the reality is that male and female factors both share equally in infertility. Consider the following statistics:

• 1/3 of infertility problems are caused by female factors and same applies to males
• Approximately 20 percent of infertility is inexplicable
• Around 10-15 % of infertility is caused by a blend of male and female factors

Among women, prevalent causes of infertility are:

• Ovulatory disorders resulting in no ovulation or irregularovulation
• Tubal disorders resulting in blocked or infected tubes
• Uterine issues-fibroids, polyps or adhesions

Infertility in men is caused due to:

• Low sperm count
• Decreased sperm motility
• Abnormally shaped sperm
• No sperm at all in the ejaculate

Each of these categories of infertility can be caused by a number of things; for example, a decreased sperm count can be caused by a disease such as diabetes, by a birth defect, or by trauma. A woman can have blocked tubes from endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, or from a congenital malformation. Anovulation can be caused by polycystic ovarian syndrome, premature ovarian failure, or by over-exercising. While it may be fairly obvious what the problem is, finding the reason for the problem may be more difficult.

How to diagnose infertility?

You may think this is a no-brainer: If you’re not getting pregnant, it seems like you’ve already diagnosed yourself with infertility! However, diagnosing a lack of pregnancy is the easy part; figuring out why you’re not getting pregnant is the hard part.

Your infertility specialist can run a few simple blood tests to help determine whether or not you’re ovulating. Ovulation is, after all, the first step in getting pregnant, and usually blood tests or observation of your own cervical mucus and temperature can help you figure out when you’re ovulating so you can time sex accordingly.

If you’re still not pregnant after six months of “hitting the mark,” it’s time for more testing; your infertility specialist may suggest a test to see if your tubes are open and testing on your partner to see if “his boys can swim.”

This process of looking for the problem and then seeing if it’s fixed can take a few months. Only 20 percent of infertile couples never have a definite answer to why they can’t get pregnant, so the odds are your favour.