It is said that infertility affects about 12% of women in the USA each year with the age range of 15 to 44 years of age. As a woman ages, her chances of conceiving a child decrease.  It is said that the best age for a woman to conceive a child is in her 20′s.  Late 20′s and early 30′s is
when the chance starts to decline.  Once a woman reaches her late 30′s the decline speeds up and keeps doing so as she gets older. This is due to
the ovaries being able to produce healthy normal eggs.

There are plenty of circumstances that can affect a male or female with infertility, especially where women are concerned.  Endometriosis is one
of the leading factors in infertility problems.  Endometriosis causes uterine fibroid tumors which can limit her chances for conceiving.  Other
conditions that can lead to infertility are: PID (Pelvic Inflammatory   Disease), polycystic ovarian syndrome and Pituitary tumors.

The main symptom of infertility is having trouble conceiving.  Some couples may not be able to conceive and some women may not be able to carry a child, suffering with numerous miscarriages.  Doctors will advice couples to try to conceive a child over a years time.  If there is no success after a year then the doctor will start testing to see if there is an underlying cause for the trouble.

The doctor may test both the male and female to see if the trouble lies with the man or the woman.  Once the doctor determine what the cause is,
he or she will then take measures to try to help the couple conceive a child.  The first thing would be to help a woman determine when she is
ovulating so that the couple can plan when they have sex.  Other types of treatment may be to clean out the fallopian tubes so that the egg and
the sperm can travel to their destination.

If you suffer with infertility problems, talk with your doctor so that you can determine the best possible treatment for your particular
situation.  There are plenty of treatments available to help you have the child you want.   There are other options such as in vitro fertilization
or even adoption for those that have no way to conceive a child.  Your doctor will help you to come up with the best option for you and your
significant other so that you can become parents with the best method for your particular situation.

Coping Mechanisms

Understandably, the mere thought of being infertile when you want to bear a child can lead to stress and anxiety in both you and your partner. After all, we still live in a society where one of the main purposes of marriage is procreation not only because it is a symbol of mutual love but also because it is necessary for the survival of the species.

No matter the reasons for infertility in your case, you must maintain a strong relationship between yourselves as partners in pregnancy. Open lines of communication and loving support are necessary to weather this kind of relationship storm.

You may also need to join an infertility support group or seek the advice of a behavioral therapist to reduce your stress and anxiety. It must be noted that these negative feelings affect your fertility, too.

Preventive Measures

Although some of the causes of infertility can neither be helped nor remedied, there are certain things you can do to avoid infertility. These measures often center on making your body and mind as healthy as possible to encourage fertility, which include adopting a healthy diet with plenty of vitamins, proteins and folic acid, maintaining healthy weight, quitting tobacco and alcohol, managing your stress, and engaging in moderate exercise. For lucky couples, unhealthy lifestyle choices are often the easiest of the reasons for infertility to remedy.

Complications Involved

Infertility in itself causes no physical complications unless it is caused by an underlying medical condition such as polycystic ovarian syndrome and endometriosis. After all, you can go on living life without children in it or you can always adopt a baby.

However, infertility does lead to emotional problems especially amongst the people involved. You and your partner will experience stress, anxiety, anger, depression and frustration, to name a few negative emotions, before, during and after the infertility treatments.

And then there is also the fact some infertility treatments lead to physical symptoms such as pain in the pelvic region, vaginal bleeding and discharge and headaches, to mention a few.

Treatment Options

Fortunately, modern medical science has made it possible for infertility to be remedied. The type of treatment depends on many factors, of which the most notable are maternal age, the reasons for infertility, and the personal preferences of the patient.

The three most common treatments involve the use of fertility drugs like clomiphene citrate and other hormones, surgery for removal of blockages in the reproductive system, lifestyle changes and assisted reproductive technology like intrauterine insemination, in vitro fertilization and egg donation. You must consult with your doctor about these treatment options to find the best one for you although it must be emphasized that you may have to try two or more options before conception is achieved.

Infertility nowadays is not too much of a problem, thanks to the advances in medical science and technology. Just seek to know of the reasons for infertility as it applies to you and then take appropriate action.

Simply, when you are under circumstances your body perceives as threatening, the body responds to these structures with the so-called “flight or flight” response. With this type of stress response, the hypothalamus releases a hormone called corticotropin releasing factor, or CRF. In turn, CRF activates what is called the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system, and the HPA system, as it is known, releases stress hormones to help manage the situation.

How this affects infertility is still not quite understood, but it is known that because the presence of infertility in itself can cause stress, that can actually lead to greater infertility stress, such that it becomes a vicious cycle. Experts do say, indeed, that stress reduction can often increase the chances for pregnancy in couples who have been deemed infertile but for whom no significant cause of infertility can be found. Because the hypothalamus regulates stress responses and sex hormones, the connection between infertility in women and stress is quite clear. In fact, stress can actually lead to complete cessation of the menstrual cycle. Even if the menstrual cycle does not completely cease, it can cause something called anovulation, or irregular menstrual cycles. Excess stress also causes the pituitary gland to produce increased amounts of catecholamine, which can cause ovulation to be irregular.

Strides in infertility stress

Within the last 20 years or so, psychoneuroimmunology has focused on how the mind can affect the body’s function, and this is especially of interest in infertility stress; neuropeptides are released in response to the emotions, and go to every cell, including those in the immune system. This leaves the mind and body inseparably connected, which means that indeed, there is a direct connection between stress and infertility.

Women are also not the only ones affected by infertility stress. Men, too, can experience lower sperm count because of stress, and can also experience physiological/psychological effects of stress with such things as temporary erectile dysfunction or lower sex drive. This, of course, will probably reduce how much a couple has intercourse, which can also reduce the chances of pregnancy.

What can help

If no physical problem is found for infertility, simply relaxing (although that can be difficult) can greatly increase a couple’s chances of becoming pregnant. Because methods differ between people and one method can work for someone while another will not, it’s useful to try a number of different approaches to reduce your own stress if you find yourself in this situation. There have been a plethora of books written on the subject, and all can benefit you by teaching different stress management techniques. Other possible destressors include using biofeedback, imagery, acupuncture or massage.

A surprising final note on infertility stress is that oftentimes, when people are trying to become pregnant and simply can’t for no apparent reason, they suddenly and unexpectedly find themselves pregnant once they relax and just “let things be.” And even though science is making great strides in correcting infertility problems, this is one of the “tried and true” adages that really work and make sense when it comes to infertility stress.

How Is Infertility Defined?

Simply put, infertility is the absence of fertility, be it in a man or a woman or in both partners. As previously mentioned, you must have been trying and still failing to get pregnant through natural methods.

Maybe you have adopted just about all the positions in the book of Kama Sutra. Maybe you have adopted a healthier lifestyle to kick start your reproductive systems into gear. Maybe you have taken all the natural supplements and tried alternative methods like acupuncture with claims to promote quick pregnancy. And still, nada on the conception. Now, that is the answer to the “What is infertility?” question.

What Are the Symptoms of Infertility?

Unfortunately, beyond the fact that you cannot get pregnant even from an enthusiastic 12 months of unprotected sex, there are no signs and symptoms that will allow you to say with a measure of certainty that, indeed, you are infertile.

You may be able to pinpoint problems like abnormal menstruation and a decreased sexual drive as signs of infertility. Take note, however, that these conditions can be attributed to other causes like stress and anxiety brought by the pressures of a modern lifestyle.

When Do You See a Fertility Specialist?

You need not be concerned about infertility if you have been trying for a year. This is because majority of couples, about 85 percent, will become pregnant in the first 6 months of trying, of which the remaining half will conceive in the next 36 months. Now, if you fall into the other half or if you cannot wait for more months to pass without results, then it is time to seek medical care.

What Are the Risk Factors for Infertility?

The issue of infertility is still vague on some issues, of which the risk factors are thankfully not included. You have higher chances of not successfully getting pregnant if you are:

• Over 32 years old for women and 40 years old   for men
• A tobacco smoker and an excessive alcohol   drinker for a number of years before trying to conceive
• On the overweight or underweight side of the   weighing scale
• An overly enthusiastic exercise fanatic or an exercise-averse individual
• A coffeeholic in the extreme sense of the word

What Are the Available Treatments for Infertility?

Fortunately for you and millions of others asking the all-important question of “What is infertility?” there are many treatment options for overcoming lack of fecundity. The type of treatments provided depends in large part on your age, the reasons for your infertility and your personal preferences. Just to name a few, you have fertility medications, surgery, and assisted reproductive technology. Talk to your doctor about them.

In conclusion, getting pregnant is one of life’s pleasures. It may not be within your reach now but with the help of medical science, it will be soon enough.

Infertility groups can help support you during the stress of trying to get pregnant, and they can also provide information that may help you actually become pregnant. Most infertility groups are local, but you can also find infertility groups online whereby you can visit forums, etc., and get the same kind of support and information “virtually” that you would normally get in a physical group. This may be a perfect solution for you if you want to stay completely anonymous, or you can still find an infertility group local to you; these online fertility groups can also often provide the needed information so that you can find an infertility group nearby.

Infertility groups can help you if you’re struggling with trying to get pregnant simply because everyone in that group is or has been through what you’re going through in your struggle to have a child. Although friends and family can help, of course, they can’t simply “be in your shoes” entirely and therefore can’t understand just what a struggle it is. They don’t altogether “get it,” in other words, whereas infertility groups will.
Perhaps surprisingly, even though infertility groups provide much-needed information on various treatments to try when it comes to addressing and overcoming infertility, many people struggling with this issue have really felt at the emotional support was most important. It’s no accident, either, that getting the support of infertility groups can actually help you become pregnant. That’s because stress can be a major factor in your inability to become pregnant; finding support for this central issue in your life can actually alleviate that stress and therefore actually lead to your becoming pregnant.

Becoming a member of an infertility group can help ease stress on marriages, too. Spouses and life partners can help and can listen, but again, it’s the woman going through the experience of trying to become pregnant (and failing) who is having the most prevalent day-to-day struggle with infertility. Because infertility groups’ members support each other, this can take a lot of the stress off of life partners or spouses who want to help, but don’t quite know what to do. And that in turn can help relationships and marriages.

What kinds of infertility groups are there?

Again, there are virtual, online infertility groups, whereby everything is handled online via forums and the like, and then there are face to face infertility groups where members actually meet each other on a regular basis. Within those two types of groups (online or virtual), the groups themselves can also be informal and led by a group “leader,” or they can be led by a trained therapist who’s versed in infertility issues. Either way, groups are generally limited in size so that everyone has time to talk, and will usually run for about 12 weeks before they reach their end, at which time another may start again. Everything can be talked about, including depression, self-care, reducing stress, relationship issues, options for addressing infertility including surrogacy, and even discussing the possible eventuality of having to remain childfree.

To find an infertility group in your area or online, simply do a Web search to find one.

Infertility is more common than was once thought. With over 6 million women in the United States alone having difficulty getting pregnant, more people are starting to take notice and investigate into ways of resolving the issue.

There are many contributing factors to why women can become infertile: women who are older who smoke, drink too much alcohol, are stressed out, have a poor diet, are into rigorous athletic training, are either overweight or underweight, have or have had a sexually transmitted infection, or diseases such as primary ovarian insufficiency or poly cystic ovarian syndrome.

If you have any concerns about whether you could be suffering from infertility, you are advised to keep trying to get pregnant for approximately a year, If you find you are still not having any success and you feel there could be a problem, you will want to schedule an appointment with your doctor to run some tests.

If you have been on birth control methods such as Depo Provara, these can often take up to a year or longer to get pregnant depending on your length of use. If you have been maintaining a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and do not suffer from any illness or chemical deficiency, you body should be able to produce eggs for fertilization.

Possible Infertility Signs

If you have stopped having periods every month, this may be one sign that you are having infertility issues. This could be due to of the ovaries, issues in the central nervous system or pituitary gland, malformed reproduction organs, hormonal imbalance due to poly cystic ovarian syndrome, or too little body fat.

If you have had a miscarriage or more. Some women do not even realize they have been pregnant
until a miscarriage occurs. Infertility can also affect the ability to stay pregnant for some women. If you find you have had more than one miscarriage, you may want to discuss your situation with your doctor. With modern technology these days, the doctor may be able to provide you with a solution so you will stay pregnant.

One reason why it is extremely important to visit your doctor for a physical is if you are suffering from conditions such as Endometriosis, Pelvic Inflammatory disease, Stenosis, or Fibroids, these can all be medical intervention such as surgery or medication.

If you are concerned you may be suffering from infertility, contact your doctor for a complete examination. Unless it is not medically sound for you, most often infertility can be helped by surgery for repairing reproductive organs or drug treatment methods to promote ovulation.

How is PCOS diagnosed?

Two of the three following criteria normally must be met to be diagnosed with PCOS:

• Menstrual cycles are abnormal
• Ovarian ultrasounds display many small follicles
• Elevated levels of male hormones are present, as determined by blood testing and/or examination

Other common characteristics of PCOS include obesity, skin tags, or something called acanthosis nigricans, which is characterized by velvety, dark patches on the neck or inner thighs.

Treating PCOS

If you have been diagnosed with PCOS and infertility, the first thing you should do is make a visit to your family practitioner. If you are overweight or obese, losing weight through a low carbohydrate diet and exercise program may be all you need to get pregnant. That’s because obesity makes you more resistant to insulin, and that as well as higher glucose levels are a major factor in PCOS and infertility.

If losing weight is not enough to mitigate the problem so that you can become pregnant, your doctor will probably refer you to a fertility specialist. One of the medications the fertility specialist may recommend is something called metformin. Metformin helps regulate your menstrual cycle, and has an additional benefit in that it helps suppress hunger as a side effect; in turn, this can help you lose weight. Dosages for metformin usually begin at 500 mg and are then increased up to what is usually a maximum of 1500 mg until a regular cycle begins.

If medications like metformin don’t help you become pregnant when you have PCOS and infertility, along with diet and exercise to reduce obesity, insulin resistance, and other pregnancy-limiting factors, your doctor may prescribe Clomid for you. Clomid induces ovulation because it encourages release of follicle stimulating hormone, or FSH. This can help you get pregnant.

If Clomid does not help you get pregnant, other fertility medications may also help with follicle stimulation, egg release, and ovulation. The danger with using fertility medications that stimulate follicles, of course, is that you may overly stimulate your ovaries, which can lead to multiple pregnancies. In fact, this is a major reason it’s not altogether uncommon today for women to have multiple pregnancies, such as being pregnant with 3, 4, 5, 6, etc., babies at once. Of course, this is dangerous to both mother and children, so these and other fertility drugs must be prescribed at the lowest dose possible to ensure no more embryos implant than the mother can carry safely to term. Therefore, with PCOS and infertility, it is important to work with reputable, prudent fertility experts so that your pregnancy will be safe and healthy for both you and your baby or babies.

Currently there are about 7.3 million US women between age 15 and 44 who have problems conceiving. Of course, many of them don’t even know it until they attempt to start a family. Some got pregnant even though they had issues like polycystic ovarian syndrome but had not been diagnosed until after they had kids. (But usually this is not the case.)

A number of other couples have undergone fertility treatments. And when the fertile couples see the happy couples with their new babies, and they don’t even contemplate whether the parents had some sort of infertility treatment in order to conceive.

In 2002, the following percentages apply to women between ages 15 and 44:

• 11.9% received infertility services
• 6.1% received professional advice
• 5.5% received medical help to prevent miscarriage
• 4.8% underwent a fertility test
• 3.8% have received population drugs
• 1.1% received artificial insemination
• 11.8% have impaired fecundity (have problems getting pregnant and carrying a baby to term)

As you probably know, likelihood of becoming pregnant decreases with the age of the woman because of the loss of their eggs. Of childless women who have received infertility service:

• 15.2% between the ages of 35 and 39
• 17.3% between the ages of 30 and 34
• 2.9% between the ages of 15 and 29
• The percentage of childless women who are infertile:
• 27.4% between the age 40 and 44
• 22.6%  between the age of 35 and 39
• 16.9% between the age of 30 and 34
• 11% between the age of 15 and 29

Still, just because there are problems getting pregnant doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.  In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a very effective fertility treatment. Here are the success rates:

• up to age 31 — 38%
• by age 39 — 22%
• after age 43 — less than 10%

But the numbers for women who have used an egg donor are encouraging: while IVF success was less than 10% for a 40-year-old mother using her own eggs, those with an egg donor had a success rate of 45% that is an even better rate than women using their own eggs in their early 30s.

Many fertility treatments available to couples are expensive. Just one in vitro treatment can run over $10,000. And it will likely take more than one treatment to become pregnant. Some fertility medications can cost upwards of $1000 per month. Some reproductive technology procedures cost over $4000. So you can see why many couples can’t afford to finance fertility treatments on their own fortunately supplemental infertility insurance is an option to get what they need without going bankrupt. Your existing insurance company probably has such a policy. Insurance providers cover a range of fertility treatments for a monthly premium. Usually, these include diagnostic fertility test artificial insemination and other types of reproductive technology, possibly including laparoscopic surgery as a diagnostic procedure. Naturally, these plans tend to cover the most inexpensive treatment that will most likely work. And he will also only cover treatments for limited number of cycles, usually 3-5. Donor eggs and sperm are not normally covered.

Here are the three types of infertility insurance: standard health insurance requires you pay a monthly premium for specific fertility coverage. Refund programs have you pay up front for your fertility treatments. If the couple failed to conceive, 70-100% of their money is refunded. The third option is simple financing. You take out a loan to cover the procedures. If you don’t conceive, the loans don’t have to be paid back in full.
However, not every couple is insurable. While it areas from insurers to insurer, certain qualifications have to be met to get approved, and you are usually required to have an existing policy with the company. Other requirements sometimes enforced: unit may have to be younger than 40, have to have attempted to conceive for one to five years, or you may have to have a policy for a year before you can use it.

Certainly there are a lot of considerations, but getting infertility insurance is worth looking into. After all, when treatments are successful, the couple is certainly going to need funds to provide for their new bundle of joy. So you could say infertility insurance allows you to become pregnant without breaking the bank.

Infertility refers to the inability to become pregnant even after 12 months of sexual intercourse without the employment of birth control in any way. Infertility can be a serious and anguishing problem for many. This problem can be further compounded by the invasive and sometimes frightening treatment procedures associated with common medical solutions to infertility.

Acupuncture and infertility are able to work well in concert with one another because acupuncture has the ability to deliver effective improvements in many medical conditions. This is achieved through acupuncture’s ability to alter the chi flow in the body’s meridians. As many are aware, this is achieved through the insertion of various needles into the acupuncture points of the body. This process is most certainly not a random one as expert care and skill is needed to properly impact the body in a manner that will yield the desired result.

Documents using as acupuncture being used to treat infertility dates back to the 12th century. (The actual use of acupuncture to treat infertility surely dates back many more centuries prior to the actual documentation) The process can employ various goals and methods. It can be employed to improve sperm function and regulate menstrual cycles. These could be considered singular approaches to dealing with the specific underlying problems associated with infertility.

However, there is also the potential to explore fully body acupuncture therapy which can impact various maladies one may be dealing with and improve their current condition. This method can eradicate problems associated with infertility as well as other similar wellness related problems.

Of course, in order to gain the most benefit out of an acupuncture session, it is important to procure the services of a qualified acupuncturist that understands what is needed to locate the cause of the problem and perform the process to alleviate the issue. This requires a knowledgeable and experienced hand that knows how to effectively employ acupuncture for a positive effect.  Also, it is important to realize that several sessions may be required in order to achieve the proper results. Even the most skilled of acupuncture professionals realizes that several sessions may be required to alter the underlying problems. This is not to say that it is impossible to achieve results in one session. In general, however, it is best to expect a few sessions will be required to deliver the expected results.  Eventually, a reversal of the problem may be achieved.

Acupuncture and infertility treatments have been linked for centuries. As such, you can rest assured a qualified acupuncturist can deliver previously elusive results.