Female infertility refers to the difficulty or inability of a woman to conceive a child on her own without medication or fertility treatments. Female infertility is relatively common, and becomes more prevalent as the age of the woman increases. Some infertility issues can be resolved with a change in lifestyle or medications, while other issues are permanent and another option, such as in vitro fertilization, may be necessary to achieve conception.
Common Reasons For Female Infertility
One of the most common factors for female infertility is age. Women are at their peak for conceiving a child between the ages of 18 and 27. After the age of 27, fertility starts to decline slowly until the age of 35, when fertility drops drastically. As a woman reaches her late 40s to early 50s, fertility becomes near impossible due to age alone, as the body can no longer easily support a healthy pregnancy to term.
Thrombophilia is also a major reason for infertility issues. Thrombophilia is an abnormality in individuals that prevents them from developing blood clots. The disorder is hereditary, and affects as many as 10% of individuals in the country. Because blood is unable to clot, thrombophilia can cause excessive bleeding that does not allow for conception, or does not support a healthy pregnancy and ends in a miscarriage soon after conception.
Female Infertility And Reproductive Organs
Many female infertility issues are directly linked to problems with their reproductive system. Polycystic ovary syndrome, more commonly known as PCOS, is an endocrine disorder that can make it near impossible for sufferers to conceive. About 5% of all women are affected by the disorder, and it is the most common hormonal disorder in women between the ages of 18 and 27, as well as the leading cause of female infertility.
Anovulation is a disorder where the ovaries fail to release an egg during a cycle. Therefore, ovulation never takes place. While this can sometimes be mistaken for the beginning of menopause, anovulatory cycles are very common in women of childbearing age, and is the second cause of female infertility problems due to reproductive issues. Anovulation cannot be cured, but it can be managed with hormonal drugs to keep the cycle normal and to encourage ovulation. Often times, an ovulation will right itself in spurts, allowing for conception to take place when the disorder is in a period of remission.
Female infertility problems are more common than male fertility problems, but that doesn’t mean that women who suffer with a fertility problem with never be able to conceive. With modern medicine and new technologies being developed every day, women who would have never been able to conceive 20 years ago now have a chance to go on and have two, three, four, or more healthy children in their lifetime. The key is to seek help as soon as you know you have a problem, and learn to manage your disorder and to keep your options open for conception alternatives.
