Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after trying for a year or more by having unprotected sex. Infertility is a common problem among both, men and women. Approximately 6% of women ages 15 to 44 years old do not conceive after a year of trying and in 8% of couples who suffer from infertility the man is the issue in conceiving. Several issues can lead to infertility, the most common issue in women is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome a condition that causes a woman not to ovulate at all or irregularly. The most common issue in men is Varicoceles a condition that is caused by the veins of a man’s testicles being larger than average causing excess heat which then affects the number and shape of the sperm. Those are just the two most common, there are many other issues that cause a person to be infertile such as hormonal and genetic disorders among men and fallopian tube obstruction, and abnormal uterine contour among women. There are, however, other circumstanced that can lead couples to believe they are infertile such as women who have issues getting pregnant and carrying a pregnancy to full term. This condition is called impaired fecundity and it affects approximately 12% of women ages 15 to 44. Infertility is important because there is no cure and for those who want children in the future they can take precautions to preserve their fertility. Doctors can treat infertility with medicine, surgery, intrauterine insemination or assisted reproductive technology as a last resort but even going to that extent doesn’t work for some couples. That is why this topic applies to myself and my classmates. We have the opportunity to educate ourselves in ways to prevent infertility. Some of these ways include not smoking, drinking an excessive amount, gaining or losing excessive amounts of weight, waiting to have children over 35 years old, etc. There are many other factors such as having protected sex to decrease the chances of an STI or STD, along with decreasing the amount of physical and emotional stress we are under. By educating ourselves now we can take the steps to preserve our chances of reproducing in the future.

References

Centers for Disease Control. (2017). Reproductive health. Retrieved from             https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/infertility/index.htm