Infertility: Evaluating Your Reproductive Health
You’ve reached that point in life when you want to have children. Like many women, you may be asking yourself: “Can I get pregnant?” It is a question that usually doesn’t enter a woman’s mind until she is ready to have a baby. For many couples, the road to parenthood is swift, but one in seven couples face fertility problems and will have difficulty conceiving.
There are many reproductive health care options currently available to treat infertility. Infertility is defined as the inability to become pregnant after 12 months of unprotected sex. Today, women are better able to be proactive and assess their fertility early in life to address any reproductive problems before they are ready to conceive.
Causes
The most common causes of female infertility are problems with ovulation. Other leading causes include:
In addition, age, anatomical problems/irregularities, hormonal imbalances, weight, chemical or radiation exposure and smoking all influence a woman’s fertility.
Risk Factors
There are also general factors that can affect a woman’s ability to ovulate, conceive or deliver a child successfully, thus increasing her risk for infertility. They include:
Diagnosis and Treatment
Diagnosis and treatment of infertility has advanced rapidly in the past several decades. Read more about female fertility diagnosis and treatment options.
When should you see a fertility specialist?
If a woman has experienced any of the following events, it may be time to schedule an appointment with an infertility specialist:
- If you are under 35 and have been unable to conceive after a year of trying to get pregnant
- If you are 35 and over and have been unable to conceive after six months of trying to get pregnant
- If you have lost two or more pregnancies to miscarriage
- If other infertility treatments have not been successful
If you do not have regular menstrual cycles, or if you have had prior gynecological problems including endometriosis, pelvic surgery, tubal pregnancy or infections, you should seek assistance sooner.
Prevention
There are many things a woman can do to enhance her fertility, such as maintaining a healthy body weight, practicing healthy and cautious sexual behaviors, getting regular Pap tests, steering clear of drugs and alcohol and evaluating your reproductive health at an early age.*
For more information or to schedule an appointment with a Penn Fertility Care specialist, visit pennmedicine.org/fertility or call 800.789.PENN (7366).
See also:
*Source: The American Fertility Association
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