The Causes of Infertility

Let's find out what are the things that's keeping you from being pregnant.

Causes of Female Infertility

1.       Hormonal Imbalance

The right hormonal balance is very important for conception. Hormonal imbalance can lead to the disturbance of the ripening process of the egg, a lack of ovulation or poor luteinisation (the process by which the ruptured follicle transforms into the corpus luteum). Somewhat suprisingly, women produce small amount of male hormones, androgens, in their bodies and sometimes increased amounts of this hormone can disturb the hormonal balance, often in combination with ovarian cyst (follicle like-structure).

Hormonal balance can also be disturbed by being very underweight or overweight, large weight changes in a short period of time, extreme physical exertion, disturbance in the working of thyroid gland or in the secretion of the hormone prolactin, certain types of medication and stress.

2. Tube-related Problems

In some childless women, the fallopian tubes are found to be partly or completely blocked. Most frequently, the fallopian tubes are damaged by infection which might have happened many years before. Other possible causes are an earlier pregnancy in which the embryo implanted in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus (ectopic pregnancy) or adhesions (scar tissues) following an operation or endometriosis.

3. Endometriosis

Endometriosis is the growth of endometrium (the lining of the uterus) outside the uterus itself. It is not known exactly how this occurs. It is probably due to very small amounts of the endometrium passing through the fallopian tubes to the abdominal cavity during menstruation. Here it may settle, causing adhesions between the abdominal organs and painful menstruation.

4. Antibodies Against Egg-cells.

This is an uncommon cause of infertility. In rare cases, the body does not recognize its own egg cells and the immune system forms antibodies against them. Antibodies against the man’s sperm in the cervical secretions are quite common. As a result, sperm cannot enter the womb and fertilization does not take place.

5.Uterus Abnormalities.

A bicornuate uterus (a womb with two 'horns') is the most common. Instead of the womb being pear-shaped, it is shaped like a heart, with a deep indentation at the top. This means that the baby has less space to grow than in a normally shaped womb.

A uterine fibroid is a non-cancerous tumour that originates from the smooth muscle layer and the accompanying connective tissue of the uterus. Fibroids are the most common benign tumours in females and typically found during the middle and later reproductive years. They can grow and cause heavy and painful menstruation.

Causes of Male Infertility

1.       Disturbance of Sperm Maturation.

The most frequent problem affecting the male fertility is insufficient production of normal, freely mobile sperm. Male semen (a mixture of sperms and nutrient fluids) is considered to be of normal quality if there are more than 20 million sperms per millilitre (ml), about half a teaspoon, of semen. Even in fertile men, most sperm are imperfect and many cannot swim properly, but at least 30% of them should be normally formed and 50% freely mobile. If these values are not reached, the man’s procreative capability can be reduced. However, even with normal sperm a functional problem may prevent sperm from penetrating the egg. The ability to produce healthy sperm may be reduced as are result of a mumps infection in childhood. Varicose veins in the testicles (varicocele) may also lead to poor sperm quality. Other causes are hormonal disturbances, stress, environmental factors such as smoking, undescended testes or hereditary factors such as genetic damage. Infections such as flu may reduce sperm quality, but this is usually temporary. Semen analysis is conducted to assess the condition of the sperm.

2.       Disturbance in Sperm Transportation.

In 4% of cases, sufficient semen is formed but cannot enter the woman’s body on ejaculation because the seminal duct is blocked. This situation is comparable with blockage of the fallopian tube in women. Possible causes are previous sterilization or sperm ducts which are underdeveloped or blocked by adhesions, usually as a result of a previous infection of the reproductive organs.

3. Other Causes

Other factors could be sexual difficulties such as erectile dysfunction or the inability to ejaculate.

So, has the cause of your or your husband's infertility been determined? What will you do next?