Introduction infertility

Fallopian tube

Infertility is defined as the failure to conceive after a year or more of regular sexual activity during the time of ovulation. An estimated one in every five couples (men and women equally) in the United States experiences infertility. It is not a disease. Rather, it is a symptom that something is preventing the reproductive processes from working properly, and needs treating.

A highly prevalent feeling of people with infertility is loss of control. Most people assume they can have children when they choose. After twenty or thirty years of assuming you would have your children when wanted, and spending time and energy trying not to get pregnant, you feel frustrated when you decide to have the baby and find that it is not so simple.

We are taught from an early age that the harder we work at something, the more likely we are to get it. Infertility is different. How hard you work at getting pregnant or what kind of person you are is irrelevant. Many get stressed at the job of making babies and this work against them. Stress is one of the major causes of infertility in couples who have no problems otherwise.

Symptoms

Infertility is a major and growing problem. Over three million visits each year to North American physicians are for infertility. The demand for treatment is increasing and the cost, both financial and emotional, can severely strain relationships.