Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive a child despite trying for one year. The condition affects about 5.3 million Americans, or 9 percent of the reproductive age population, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Ironically, the best protection against infertility is to use a condom while you are not trying to get pregnant. Condoms prevent sexually transmitted diseases, a primary cause of infertility.
Even a completely healthy couple can't expect to get pregnant at the drop of a hat. Only 20 percent of women who want to conceive become pregnant in the first
ovulation cycle they try, according to Younger.
To become pregnant, a couple must have intercourse during the woman's fertile time of the month, which is right before and during ovulation. Because it's tough to pinpoint the exact day of ovulation, having intercourse often during the approximate time maximizes the chances of conception.
After a year of frequent intercourse without contraception that doesn't result in pregnancy, a couple should go to a health-care professional for an evaluation. In some cases, it makes sense to seek help for fertility problems even before a year is up.
A woman over 30 may wish to get an earlier evaluation. "At age 30, a woman begins a slow decline in her ability to get pregnant," says Younger. "The older she gets, the greater her chance of miscarriage, too." But a woman's fertility doesn't take a big drop until around age 40.
"A man's age affects fertility to a much smaller degree and 20 or 30 years later than in a woman," Younger says. Despite a decrease in sperm production that begins after age 25, some men remain fertile into their 60s and 70s.
A couple may also seek earlier evaluation if:
- The woman isn't menstruating regularly, which may indicate an absence of ovulation that would make it impossible for her to conceive without medical help.
- The woman has had three or more miscarriages (or the man had a previous partner who had had three or more miscarriages).
- The woman or man has had certain infections that sometimes affect fertility (for example, pelvic infection in a woman, or mumps or prostate infection in a man).
- The woman or man suspects there may be a fertility problem (if, for example, attempts at pregnancy failed in a previous relationship).
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