Podpost: Facts about Infertility

I’ll admit that my knowledge about infertility was woefully small before talking to Kerry in Podcast Episode 30: Inquiries about Infertility. My knowledge of in vitro was even more scant (scanter?), whereas my knowledge about someone like the Octomom was depressingly vast. This is why this week’s Podpost is simply a look at some facts about infertility, not a digression into the extreme cases of in vitro or a critique of women waiting too long to have babies. Truthfully, the media representation of infertility is not an accurate gauge of the reality.

Here are some of the facts according to the National Women’s Resource Center (via a 2006 article from iVillage and a 2003 Discovery Health article).  Both articles cite the same source, yet have different statistics, highlighting the problem with statistics in general. I cite an approximation of the two sources when they don’t agree.

• Approximately 10% of all childbearing couples have problems conceiving. I don’t know why, but this seemed high to me. 1 in 10 couples have problems! No, tossing Taking Charge of Your Fertility at them (although a totally great book) will not solve most problems.

• One-third of infertility cases are attributed to men, one-third to women, and the rest to both members of a couple. Put another way, 25% of infertile couples have more than one factor contributing to their infertility. I was honestly shocked that the break down was so even. The men to women ratio didn’t surprise me as much as the one third attributed to both parties. I guess I always thought the problem could be specified, e.g. the man’s sperm had some issues or the women’s eggs weren’t working out. Infertility is obviously a more fluid and amorphous issue than I knew. Oh, and its not the “fault” of women most of the time. Good to know.

• Two-thirds of infertility cases are caused by ovulation problems and/or sperm deficiencies.

• 35-70% of women who have a laproscopy are found to have endometriosis. This is when endometrial cells grow in places other than the uterus. It can be very painful. I’m guessing this means ovulatory problems and endometriosis have a huge stronghold on female infertility.

• 85 to 90% of infertility cases are treated with medication or surgery. Only 5-10% involve assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro. Interesting. This is most definitely good news for the infertile couple, but also might point to the prohibitive cost of reproductive technologies, not necessarily to the magic of medication and surgery in 90% of the cases.

• Per month, a 29 year old woman has a 20% chance of getting pregnant, whereas a 39 year old woman has a 7% chance. I said in the intro that infertility isn’t just an issue for women over 35, but biology obviously plays a huge role in those cases and the biological clock isn’t a myth. At some point, your fertility will just run out (I’m pushing 30 and think about that sometimes).

• Pregnancy is possible for more than half of couples pursuing treatment. This is great news and also a little depressing. How much more than half? If only a little more, this means you have a fifty/fifty chance. Those odds are a little scary when thinking about creating a family. Well, I guess they could be inspiring as well and a reason to seek treatment. Glass half full or empty?

If you have struggled with infertility, feel free to comment below or on (Over)Thinking Mom’s facebook page.

Image: Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net