What is Infertility?
• Infertility is a disease that results in the abnormal function of the reproductive system.
• Infertility prevents people from creating a family – one of the most fundamental and highly valued human activities. A United States Supreme Court decision concluded that reproduction is a major life activity as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
What is the Scope of Infertility?
• Infertility affects people of all ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic levels.
• Infertility is a medical condition, not a sexual problem and not a curse! Infertility does not equate to sexual dysfunction. Infertile people are just as virile and beautiful as everyone else.
Infertility Treatment and It’s Costs:
• Infertility puts a family on hold. It is a life stopping crisis that can affect everything a person does, from job performance to self esteem, to important decisions such as buying a house or home.
• Infertility affects more than one in ten people of reproductive age around the world. It affects both men and women in about equal numbers. The mean age of those seeking infertility treatment is about 32.
• As with other serious diseases such as cancer and heart disease, infertility can lead to depression and anxiety, affecting job performance and productivity, as well as relationships with family and friends.
• Over the last two decades, few areas of medicine that have advanced as rapidly as infertility
• Infertility treatment is provided by reproductive endocrinologists who are specialists in reproductive health. Though most people associate treatment with “high tech” procedures such as in vitro fertilization, approximately only 2% of patients actually need these treatments.
• A majority of infertile couples build families with the assistance of a vast array of increasingly refined medical therapies and treatments, including oocyte and sperm donation.
• Infertility is not solely a women’s problem. In fact, infertility affects men and women equally. People are often surprised to learn that 35% of infertility cases are related to the male, and 35% to the female. Additionally, 20% of infertility cases are due to combined causes between the male and female, and 10% of infertility cases remain undiagnosed. Therefore, it is very important that both partners in a heterosexual couple experiencing infertility receive a full evaluation.
• Unfortunately, many people think they should wait up to 30 months before seeking help. In reality, people should seek treatment for infertility after 12 months of unprotected intercourse. Women older than 35 should not wait longer than 6 months to see a specialist.
• For women under 30, it’s estimated that the chance of becoming pregnant in any one cycle is 20-30%. By age 40, that chance plummets to approximately 5%.
• Female fertility diminishes with age, beginning in the late twenties. The first dip in a woman’s fertility usually comes at around age 27. By age 37, approximately 50% of women will experience infertility.
• Frequently, women who delay first-time parenthood until after age 30 (about one in seven of those in their childbearing years) are stunned and furious when they discover that age compromises fertility.
• Approximately ninety percent of all women will experience infertility at age 42.
• The average 30-year-old couple will require approximately 6 months of active trying to achieve a pregnancy.
Get the facts. Once you know them, you have power and that incredible feeling of knowing that you are not alone. Which fact was new to you? What was the most surprising?