Infertility is a common condition and impacts about 20 percent of all couples. An official medical diagnosis of infertility is usually given when a couple has been unsuccessful after trying to conceive over a full year’s time. When the cause of infertility appears to result from the female partner, it is called female infertility. Female infertility factors contribute to about 50% of all infertility cases, and infertility in women makes up about one-third of all infertility cases.
Becoming pregnant and carrying a pregnancy to term are physically and emotionally taxing processes with a lot of complicated aspects. Quite a few things can go wrong during the pregnancy process and ultimately lead to infertility.
The list below includes only some of the common causes of infertility, and any woman experiencing difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term should contact her healthcare provider about potential treatments.
What will a doctor evaluate to diagnose female infertility?
Your trusted healthcare provider will need details about your menstrual periods, any previous pregnancies, miscarriages, pelvic pain, abnormal vaginal bleeding, or vaginal discharge. You may also be asked for information about previous pelvic infections or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Some of the medical questions professionals may ask include:
- Have you previously been pregnant or had any miscarriages?
- Does your menstrual cycle feel normal and seem on-time or is it painful and irregular?
- Are you experiencing heavy bleeding or abnormal discharge?
- Have you previously undergone any abdominal surgeries?
What causes female infertility to occur?
There are a wide range of potential causes for female infertility, but it can be challenging to specify the precise one. There are plenty of couples who even experience “undetermined” infertility or “multi-factor” infertility (meaning multiple causes, often from both male and female factors). Some potential causes include:
Uterus Issues: Problems with the uterus may include polyps, fibroids, septum, or adhesions within the uterine cavity. Polyps and fibroids in particular could form at any time while other issues (like a septum) can be with you since birth or come as a result of surgery, like for dilations and curettage.
Ovulation Complications: There are a large variety of reasons why a woman might not be ovulating normally. Ovulation difficulty usually results from things like hormonal imbalances, a history with eating disorders, substance abuse, abnormal thyroid conditions, severe stress, and even pituitary tumors.
Fallopian Tube Problems: Infertility that results from “tubal factors” typically include pelvic inflammatory disease that results from having chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Egg Number And Quality: At birth, women come into the world with all the eggs their body will ever produce, and these carry the potential to leave the body early and entirely, all before menopause. Some eggs will even have the wrong number of chromosomes and won’t be able to grow into a healthy fetus. Some of these chromosomal problems (including “balanced translocation”) may affect every egg, while others occur more chaotically but become increasingly common as a woman ages.
At Renewed Vitality, our dedicated teams are focused on helping people stay informed and passionate about their lives and health, including for infertility problems and associated conditions like low estrogen levels and hormone complications.
We are also the Berks County area’s premier facility for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and other treatments. We serve both men and women, offering safe, effective care that relieves hormone imbalance symptoms and restores quality of life for patients at all stages of life. To learn more, don’t hesitate to contact Renewed Vitality today!
