Everything You Need to Know About Infertility 
A diagnosis of infertility means you haven’t been able to get pregnant after a year of trying. If you’re a woman over 35, it means you haven’t been able to get pregnant after 6 months of trying.
Women who are able to conceive but not carry a pregnancy to term may also be diagnosed with infertility.
A woman who’s never been able to get pregnant will be diagnosed with primary infertility. A woman who’s had at least one successful pregnancy in the past will be diagnosed with secondary infertility.
Infertility isn’t just a challenge women face. Men can be infertile too. In fact, men and women have similar rates Trusted Source of infertility.
According to the Office on Women’s Health Trusted Source, about one-third of infertility cases can be attributed to female infertility, while men’s problems account for another third of infertility cases.
The remaining third of cases may be caused by a combination of male and female infertility, or they may have no known cause.
Female infertility can be caused by a variety of factors that affect or interfere with the following biological processes:
- ovulation, when the mature egg is released from the ovary
- fertilization, which occurs when sperm meets the egg in the fallopian tube after traveling through the cervix and uterus
- implantation, which occurs when a fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus, where it can then grow and develop into a baby
Risk factors
Risk factors for female infertility include:
- increasing age
- smoking cigarettes
- heavy use of alcohol
- being overweight, obese, or significantly underweight
- having certain sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that can damage the reproductive system
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