Clear Signs of Infertility And What To Do About It
The first sign of infertility is the inability for a couple to ‘get pregnant’ for a full year of trying. The reasons for this are many, and one of them is aging.
Some of the reasons for the reduced fertility in women as they age are a diminished ability for their ovaries to release eggs and the lower health level of those eggs. In addition, aging women become more likely with each passing year to have health issues that interfere with their fertility. There’s also a higher risk for miscarriage.
In her twenties is when a woman’s fertility is highest with a steadily increasing difficulty in conceiving into her thirties – as her ovaries stop making eggs at the rate they once did. The risk of miscarriage generally doesn’t become an issue until she reaches at least thirty-six. Drinking and smoking increases the level of infertility in all women. Today, aging is the most common fertility problem as women are choosing to have their first child at 35 or older.
Infertility is categorized as Primary or Secondary: Primary is when a woman can’t get pregnant after a year of trying and Secondary Infertility is when she can’t after a year of trying – but she had already become pregnant in some year past.
Both males and females have infertility problems, with the split being roughly 50-50, according to some experts on fertility. But the ratio is 60-40 – with the females having 60 percent of the infertility issues according to others. One in ten of couples trying to conceive will have difficulties, with four out of five being successful inside a year. What is a normal amount of time? Up to two years of trying, say experts.
In order to assess their fertility, many partners must both have complete medical exams done. Many of the males in relationships have the problem with fertility, therefore it’s important that both partners get a complete physical.
In order to get a base for comparison, the first tests normally done by a doctor are for the female’s levels of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH). The tests for these two hormones are normally done on a woman’s first visit to her specialist as well as her third. Since FSH and LH are both critical to male fertility (they are important to sperm health and production), these tests can be done on the male, at the discretion of the fertility specialist.
Some of the other tests routinely done (female) include ultrasound tests, a cervical mucus test, and additional hormone testing. A post-intercourse test that’s not done as much today, the cervical mucus test looks for active sperm from a sampling of the vaginal mucus. Two to eight hours following intercourse, the female is examined by the fertility specialist. Sometimes a bacterial test is done at the same time.
Ultrasound testing can be done as part of your initial consultation with a reproductive endocrinologist. Ultrasound testing is done to get an overall picture of the health of all the female reproductive organs. Ultrasound imaging is also done to see if an egg has been released from ovulation.
There are many other tests for reproductive-related hormones available to the reproductive endocrinologist: They include tests for total testosterone, progesterone, estradiol, prolactin, free T3, free testosterone, androstenedione, and DHEAS.
Treating infertility is a subject for an entire series of articles, but in a nutshell, infertility treatments run the gamut from simple drugs to surgery. Infertility treatments can get very expensive and time-consuming – and rarely covered by insurance, so it boils down to how bad a couple wants to conceive. Certain treatable infertility problems include Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS, which is treated with the drugs clomiphene and metformin together.
Problems ovulating can be treated with the drug clomiphene. The next thing on the list of ever-increasing extreme treatments for infertility is hormone therapy. This is more extreme because besides bad side effects, it often results in multiple-baby pregnancies.
There are other infertility treatments, but one of the most intense and expensive is IVF, or in vitro fertilization. If you decide to go this route, you should know that acupuncture (by professionals trained specifically in acupuncture fertility therapy) has proven to increase the success rate of IVF pregnancies. Be aware, however, that IVF also increases the chance of multiple births: 1 in 3 IVF couples will be parents of twins.
Janet has been writing helpful articles on fertility and pregnancy for years. Discover more about the signs of infertility and ways to monitor fertility with innovative solutions such as the Clear blue Fertility Monitor and other methods on the website.