10. Environmental pollution:
Environmental toxins are known to harm both men and women. Exposure to pollutants such as chemicals, pesticides, cigarette smoke, polychlorinated biphenyls, plastics, food packaging, and personal care products (soaps, shampoos, and cosmetics), could affect your health, especially fertility. They lower the couples’ ability to conceive by 29%.
Though it is inevitable to avoid exposure to environmental toxins and chemicals, you should avoid them as much as possible.
- Stop using pesticides for your plants and lawn. Choose organic foods.
- Use organic and natural personal care products.
- Wear protective gear when you are working in chemical-prone areas, and always remain in highly ventilated places.
All of the above reasons are lifestyle choices or environmental factors that affect the ability to conceive. Now, let’s look at some medical causes of not getting pregnant.
Medical Causes For Not Getting Pregnant:
In some cases, the egg may get aborted naturally, while in others, the couple could suffer from impotency. You must, however, give yourself a year to conceive. If things don’t work out by then, then you may reach out to a doctor for diagnosis and treatment. The causes of infertility are different in men and women.
The medical causes of infertility in women are:
11. Irregular periods:
Women who do not menstruate regularly have more difficulty in getting pregnant. Irregular periods indicate inconsistent ovulation, and conceiving without an egg is impossible. Therefore, the less you ovulate, the less are your chances of getting pregnant.
How can I get pregnant with irregular periods?
A doctor can help you find the underlying cause for irregular periods and offer the treatment accordingly. You should also focus on a healthy diet, attain ideal weight, perform moderate exercises, and take fertility enhancing supplements as suggested by the doctor.
12. Endometriosis:
This is a chronic disorder of the reproductive system in which the endometrial cells grow outside the uterus. It will block the tubes preventing fertilization or the fertilized egg from traveling towards the fallopian tubes.
This condition causes painful periods, severe pain while penetration during sex, painful bowel movements, and frequent urination along with a feeling of bladder being full during menstrual cycle, or chronic pelvic pain.
What could be the possible treatment?
The best treatment is laparoscopy in which a light tube is used to check and remove abnormal cysts and blocked tubes. Post the surgery, you will conceive in six to eight months. If that does not happen, then fertility drugs with intrauterine insemination (IUI) are given, and in severe cases, in-vitro fertilization is used.
13. Ovulation problems:
Almost 20 to 40% of infertility problems in women are caused due to irregular ovulation, which prevents the release of mature eggs from ovaries. Where some women can never ovulate, others ovulate once in a quarter. Hormonal fluctuations, excess weight gain or loss, excessive exercise, or severe stress could be the key reasons of ovulatory disorders.
What could be the possible treatment?
Your doctor will prescribe ovulation stimulators such as gonadotrophins, clomifene, prolactin suppressants, often with IVF and fertility drugs.
14. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS):
It is a complex condition caused by hormonal imbalance, which interrupts ovulation. Small cysts are formed in the ovaries that disrupt ripening of ovarian follicle and maturation. The other possible symptoms include irregular menstruation, weight gain, excess hair growth, and acne.
What could be the possible treatment? Changes in diet and lifestyle that help control weight, and medical treatments such as ovulation stimulatory drugs (gonadotrophins, clomifene) along with IVF, can treat PCOS.
15. Tubal diseases:
Damaged or blocked fallopian tubes prevent eggs from reaching the uterus and sperm from reaching the egg, thus preventing conception. These conditions could arise due to sexually transmitted diseases, pelvic inflammatory diseases, or sterilization surgeries, if any.
What could be the possible treatment?
Laparoscopic surgery helps open and repair the tubes, and is followed by IVF.
16. Egg factor:
The egg quality and quantity decline around late 30s and early 40s. Women are born with approximately one to two million eggs at birth and the eggs gradually lessen to 300, 000 by puberty. Then about 300 mature and release through ovulation. And, by menopause, you have no eggs left.
What could be the possible treatment?
As the loss of eggs is an irreversible process, you should try to plan pregnancy in your fertile age. Also, try losing weight if you are overweight, quit smoking, manage thyroid issues (if you have any), and take supplements including fish oils, prenatal vitamins, probiotics, vitamin D, and Coenzyme Q10. These improve egg quality.
The possible solutions if the above do not work are egg or embryo donation, adoption, or surrogacy.
17. Low progesterone levels:
After ovulation, the corpus luteum (remnant egg follicle) produces progesterone to support embryo implantation during early pregnancy. The deficiency of progesterone in this phase is called Luteal Phase Defect (LPD), and may be one of the reasons for infertility. Even if you conceive, the placenta and fetus would not grow further, causing non-viable fetus or early fetal loss. Other medical conditions such as prolactin or thyroid abnormalities could lead to abnormal luteal functioning.
What could be the possible treatment?
Your doctor may refer you to a reproductive endocrinologist. The treatments include progesterone supplements, vaginal injections, or suppositories to thicken the uterine lining for embryo attachment.
18. Cervical mucus problems:
Cervical mucus usually changes its consistency to clear and elastic forms so that the sperms can easily move through the mucus into female reproductive organs. In a case of cervical mucus abnormalities, the mucus prevents the sperm from passing through. The mucus may contract an infection, or contain antibodies that kill sperms. These problems are encountered in women with chronic cervicitis or a narrowed cervix followed by any prior surgery, and lead to pregnancy failure.
What could be the possible treatment?
Identifying and treating infections and using assisted reproductive methods such as IUI and in-vitro fertilization, help solve the problem.
The medical causes of infertility in men are:
19. Sperm problems:
Poor sperm mobility, low or no sperm count, and abnormally shaped sperms can decrease a man’s fertility.
What could be the possible treatment?
Fertility drugs are the first line of treatment to boost sperm production. The next options are IUI and ICSI.
20. Tube blockages:
Blockages in the epididymis (a long coiled tube that lies behind testicles and stores mature sperms) and vas deferens (the muscular tube that carries sperm from the epididymis to the ejaculatory duct) could adversely affect the transport of fertile sperms. The obstruction in the tubes could be due to infections including gonorrhea or chlamydia, birth defects, or injuries. Also, varicoceles (enlarged veins in the scrotum) will affect sperm mobility.
What could be the possible treatment?
Health practitioners usually prefer surgical correction of tube blockages, which corrects fertility.
Besides lifestyle choices and medical reasons, there are a few other factors that can affect fertility.
Are There Any Other Factors That Affect Fertility?
Yes! Unexplained and combination reasons account for almost 25% and 40% respectively of all infertility cases.
21. Unexplained infertility:
Of all the infertility cases, 25% are diagnosed as unexplained infertility, due to failure in finding the actual cause even after a range of tests and assessments. The partners undergo a variety of tests without any definitive results. Though you may not actually have any problem, it results in confusion.
What next?
Doctors usually advise the next best step, which is to conceive by having regular intercourse (without focusing on having babies). If it doesn’t work even after a couple of years, you may be given an IVF treatment.
22. Combination infertility:
Here, both the partners are diagnosed with fertility problems, or when one of them has a couple of fertility issues.
What next?
Appropriate treatments are offered according to the cause of infertility.
In women, sometimes the menstrual cycle may change in intensity and duration. This could also directly affect fertility.
Are Heavy Periods A Sign Of Fertility?
Heavy periods are not a sign of fertility, and sometimes could indicate a different problem. You may feel fatigued and worn out. In the process of losing more blood, you will lose the essential body resources built over time. If you get sudden, heavy periods, you should immediately discuss with your doctor.
Can You Get Pregnant At Any Time Of The Month?
It is not possible to get pregnant at anytime of the month. You must be ovulating in order to conceive. This means that you should have sex in the days leading to and around ovulation. The two to three days before ovulation and the day you ovulate are most fertile days.
You must, however, understand that fertile days do not directly mean that everything is functioning well.
Are You Fertile If You Have Regular Period?
If you have regular periods, your chances of fertility are high. However, fertility is tricky as there may be reasons that could prevent conception in spite of having a good number of eggs.
If you have been trying to conceive for months or years and failing, then you must see a fertility specialist or gynecologist to rule out the possible causes. Also, remember that you do not always need medical assistance for conception. Certain lifestyle changes could naturally help you conceive.
If fertility is in place, then it shouldn’t be very difficult for a couple to conceive. However, you can increase your chances of conception by a mark.
How Can I Get Pregnant Faster?
Once you decide to have a baby, you may want to get pregnant faster. There are ways to boost your likeliness of conceiving quickly.
- Schedule a preconception check-up or counseling
- Stay away from birth control pills days or weeks before you try to conceive
- Figure out your ovulation time. You could use an ovulation predictor kit.
- Have sex at the right time
- Give sperms a boost by improving diet, exercising regularly, limiting chemical exposure, and consuming herbal supplements
- Eat a healthy and nutritious diet
- Relax and have fun while making love
The sooner you implement these changes, the faster you can get pregnant.
While some couples have issues getting pregnant the first time, others have issues conceiving a second time. And we’ll tell you why.
Why Am I Not Getting Pregnant The Second Time?
Your fertility can reduce from your first pregnancy and women may find it difficult to become pregnant for the second time. This is known as secondary infertility. Here are some common reasons for not getting pregnant:
- If you are a woman over 35 years, then the egg count will fall, leading to no or lesser eggs
- Men over 50 have a decreased fertility and abnormal sperm
- Changes in ovulation and menstrual cycles due to hormonal dysfunction, weight issues, stress, medications (steroids, antibiotics, and antihistamines), and substance abuse (drugs, tobacco and alcohol)
- Complication in your first pregnancy or labor
- Damage to fallopian tubes due to abdominal surgery, endometriosis, sexually transmitted infections
There are certainly ways to fix infertility and conceive easily. But, first you must recognize the problem and then work towards the solution.
