Infertility is very common.  Studies show that approximately one in nine couples in the United States have infertility at some time in their life.  The sad part about those statistics is that only 50% of these patients actually seek treatment.  Of those who do seek treatment, ultimately over 90% will conceive, making it vital that patients with infertility seek treatment.

Infertility is typically defined as one year of regular sexual intercourse without conception.  Signs that infertility may be happening to you would include irregular menstrual cycles in which you actually miss a menstrual cycle for an entire month, significant pelvic pain with your menstrual cycles, a history of sexually transmitted diseases, and/or a prior history of pelvic surgery.

If you are over 35 years of age, there is also mounting evidence that it would be beneficial to you to seek care for infertility if you have been trying to conceive for six months or more.  In women over 35 years of age, we have an increased concern about egg quality and egg number which can be quickly assessed with your OB/GYN.

A frequent comment by patients is that they have been having regular intercourse for several years, however, have not been "trying" to get pregnant.  Studies very clearly show that patients do not need to "try" to get pregnant but rather regular intercourse, once to twice per week, should be adequate for a patient to conceive within a year without another form of birth control.

I look forward to discussing this topic further.

by:  John Schnorr, M.D.