What is infertility?

Infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant (conceive) after one year of unprotected sex. Women who do not have regular menstrual cycles, or are older than 35 years and have not conceived during a 6-month period of trying, should consider making an appointment with a reproductive endocrinologist - an infertility specialist. These doctors may also be able to help women with recurrent pregnancy loss - 2 or more spontaneous miscarriages.

Symptoms of infertility

The main symptom of infertility is not being able to get pregnant. There may be no other symptoms. For women, if there are symptoms, they are usually related to the cause of infertility.

For women, those factors can include:

• Painful or irregular periods (menstrual cycle)
• Age (older than 35)
• Endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease (diseases of a woman’s reproductive organs)
• Cancer treatment

For men, factors include:

• Infections
• A low sperm count (a higher count increases the chance the sperm and egg will meet)
• Problems with your male reproductive organs (such as undescended testicles, enlarged prostate, and varicoceles, or enlarged veins in the skin that surround a man’s testicles)
• Cancer treatment

Infertility treatment

Infertility treatment is based on the cause of your infertility. It can range from medicines to implanting an embryo through assisted reproductive technology (ART).

For men, issues that affect fertility can include hormone imbalances or erectile dysfunction. These issues can be treated with medicine. Other issues could include blockages in the tubes that carry sperm or varicoceles in the testicles. These can be repaired with surgery.

For women, treatment can also include medicine or surgery, depending on the underlying problem. The most common medicines used to treat female infertility stimulate the ovaries. This helps the ovaries produce more eggs and increases the chances of getting pregnant.