1. Ovulation & Fertility Slideshow Pictures
2. Early Pregnancy Symptoms Quiz
3. Stages of Pregnancy Slideshow Pictures

In this Article

• Trying to Conceive Facts*
• Fertility Awareness
• Charting your fertility pattern
• Basal body temperature method
• Calendar method
• Cervical mucus method
• Infertility
• Causes of infertility
• Age
• Health Problems
• Lifestyle factors
• Options for infertile couples
• Treating infertility
• Adoption
• Foster care
• Counseling and support groups
• Patient Comments: Pregnancy: Trying to Conceive - Methods
• Find a local Obstetrician-Gynecologist in your town
• Trying to Conceive Index

Some women want children but either cannot conceive or keep miscarrying. This is called infertility. Lots of couples have infertility problems. About one-third of the time, it is a female problem. In another one-third of cases, it is the man with the fertility problem. For the remaining one-third, both partners have fertility challenges or no cause is found.

Women generally have some decrease in fertility starting in their early 30s. And while many women in their 30s and 40s have no problems getting pregnant, fertility especially declines after age 35. As a woman ages, normal changes that occur in her ovaries and eggs make it harder to become pregnant. Even though menstrual cycles continue to be regular in a woman's 30s and 40s, the eggs that ovulate each month are of poorer quality than those from her 20s. It is harder to get pregnant when the eggs are poorer in quality. As a woman nears menopause, the ovaries may not release an egg each month, which also can make it harder to get pregnant. Also, as a woman and her eggs age, she is more likely to miscarry, as well as have a baby with genetic problems, such as Down syndrome.

Some women have diseases or conditions that affect their hormone levels, which can cause infertility.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) rarely or never ovulate. Failure to ovulate is the most common cause of infertility in women.

With primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), a woman's ovaries stop working normally before she is 40. It is not the same as early menopause. Some women with POI get a period now and then. But getting pregnant is hard for women with POI.

A condition called luteal phase defect (LPD) is a failure of the uterine lining to be fully prepared for pregnancy. This can keep a fertilized egg from implanting or result in miscarriage.

Common problems with a woman's reproductive organs, like uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and pelvic inflammatory disease can worsen with age and also affect fertility. These conditions might cause the fallopian tubes to be blocked, so the egg can't travel through the tubes into the uterus.