Infertility (cont.)
What things increase a woman's risk of infertility?
Many things can
affect a woman's ability to have a baby. These include:
How does age affect a woman's ability to have children?
More and more women are waiting until their 30s and 40s to have
children. Actually, about 20 percent of women in the United States now have
their first child after age 35. So age is an increasingly common cause of
fertility problems. About one third of couples in which the woman is over 35
have fertility problems.
Aging decreases a woman's chances of having a baby in the following ways:
- The ability of a woman's ovaries to release eggs ready for
fertilization declines
with age.
- The health of a woman's eggs declines with age.
- As a woman ages she is
more likely to have health problems that can interfere with fertility.
- As a
women ages, her risk of having a miscarriage increases.
How long should women try to get pregnant before calling their doctors?
Most healthy
women under the age of 30 shouldn't worry about infertility unless they've been
trying to get pregnant for at least a year. At this point, women should talk to
their doctors about a fertility evaluation. Men should also talk to their
doctors if this much time has passed.
In some cases, women should talk to their doctors sooner. Women in their 30s
who've been trying to get pregnant for six months should speak to their doctors
as soon as possible. A woman's chances of having a baby decrease rapidly every
year after the age of 30. So getting a complete and timely fertility evaluation
is especially important.
Some health issues also increase the risk of fertility problems. So women
with the following issues should speak to their doctors as soon as possible:
- irregular periods or no menstrual periods
- very painful
periods
- endometriosis
- pelvic inflammatory disease
- more than one miscarriage
No matter how old you are,
it's always a good idea to talk to a doctor before you start trying to get
pregnant. Doctors can help you prepare your body for a healthy baby. They can
also answer questions on fertility and give tips on conceiving.
Next: How will doctors find out if a woman and her partner have fertility problems? »
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