Hearing about teen pregnancy and mothers with countless children by their sides makes it seem like conceiving is a simple activity. It’s a fact, however, that thousands of women deal with infertility issues every year.
If you don’t conceive a child within a single year, you may want to think about the challenges that might contribute to this issue. Educate yourself by looking at these top 8 reasons why you may have trouble conceiving. Facing these realities may make it easier to conceive in the long run.
1. Declining Egg Quality
A man may make new sperm every day of his life, but a woman is born with every egg that she’ll ever have. As you grow older, these eggs will decline in quality. The ovaries send out an egg during each menstrual cycle, but that fact doesn’t mean that it’s viable. A sperm might meet the egg and no union forms from the connection.
Women in their 20s tend to have the best chances of becoming pregnant. Their eggs are relatively young. Age and chronic conditions can plague the female body as you enter your 30s and 40s. Egg quality rapidly declines. It’s merely chance that produces a viable egg during a cycle where sperm is available for fertilization.
2. Blocking of the Fallopian Tubes
There are a number of reasons why your Fallopian tubes might be blocked. Endometriosis, surgery and pelvic inflammatory disease can all cause scarring within the tubes, reports the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Although the uterus supports a fertilized egg, it’s the Fallopian tube that facilitates the initial meeting of the egg and sperm. A blocked tube means that the sperm cannot reach the egg. Because a woman releases only one egg each month, a blocked tube can reduce your chances of conception by about 50 percent.
Keeping up with your reproductive health is the only way to prevent this scenario. Treating these common ailments may make conception possible.
3. Discovering Sperm Irregularities
Women must also understand that conception is also partly controlled by the male. He may have normal reactions during intimate acts, but the sperm’s health isn’t always perfect. These reproductive cells might be irregularly shaped or poor swimmers.
The only way to find out if there are issues with the sperm is through semen analysis tests. Specialists can look at the sample, and they’ll determine if there’s a concern. Women must remember that sperm have a difficult job when it comes to finding the egg and fertilizing it. The best swimmers must be available to complete the act.
4. Dealing With Medical Issues
Uterine fibroids, celiac disease, depression, and lupus can all contribute to conception problems. It’s critical to make yearly appointments with your doctor. Discuss any concerns that you might have about these medical issues. Treating a disease that seems unrelated to conception may be the final answer to your pregnancy dreams.
If you must take medications to treat a condition, you may want to hold off on your conception goals for the moment. Some medications aren’t conducive to a healthy pregnancy. Work with your doctor so that your treatment is thorough and safe. Once the medication clears out of your system, try conceiving once again.
5. Supporting an Irregularly Shaped Uterus
If you took science classes as a youngster, the human body was often the subject of the day. All of the organs have particular locations and orientations in the body. Your uterus rests within the pelvic region, which protects it during pregnancy for the most part.
Some women are born with irregularly shaped uteruses. They might be oriented at an unusual angle, which forces the sperm to work extra hard to even access the organ. In many cases, the sperm doesn’t even reach the uterus or the Fallopian tubes.
Women who verify that their uterus is irregularly shaped or oriented may turn to alternative ways to get pregnant. Implantation and other options might be solutions for successful conception.
6. Ovulating Issues
Some women may deal with irregular ovulation. They may not realize that they have irregularities, which makes infertility that much more of a mystery. Ideally, ovulation happens once a month. An egg is open to fertilization for several days before the window closes on that month’s conception chances.
If a woman doesn’t ovulate every month, the chances of conceiving a child are much more challenging. You might use an ovulation kit in order to examine your hormonal levels, but there’s still a lot of guessing that goes into the process. Speaking with your doctor about ovulation issues is a good start.
7. Understanding Semen Problems
Another male-related issue when it comes to conception is overall semen problems. The sperm cells might be in good shape, but the semen itself is too thick. It cannot saturate the reproductive organs as it’s designed to do so. The results culminate into no pregnancy in the near future.
Semen problems also extend to the number of sperm cells in a given sample. There might be too few cells or none at all. The analysis tests will tell you about these problems along with the sperms’ overall shapes. A couple can rule out certain problems with conception when these tests are finally completed. In many cases, however, there are several issues creating a challenge to a successful pregnancy.
8. Ignoring Chronic STDs
Planned Parenthood cautions women that untreated STDs or sexually transmitted diseases can impact their fertility. Certain ailments, including gonorrhea and chlamydia, lead to inflammation and scarring within the upper reproductive organs.
A woman who catches and treats these ailments as soon as possible may not see infertility issues. With time and cellular damage, these diseases make it difficult for pregnancies to occur. The Fallopian tubes can be scarred along with damage to the uterus.
An annual checkup for STDs is warranted for women who have multiple partners. Treating any disease in its initial stages will improve your chances of becoming pregnant.
Regardless of the primary issue for your fertility challenge, work with your partner as a team. Support one another as you solve this dilemma. A beautiful child may be the result of your efforts.