By Dr. Victoria Verdú (Licensed Gynaecologist No. 282847366).
Fertility can be affected for various reasons. It is not easy to be optimistic when you want to become a mother and pregnancy does not come.
The hope of getting pregnant, going to the doctor, trying and succeeding is mixed with strong and destructive desires. At that moment you ask yourself: Why can't I get pregnant? When pregnancy does not come naturally, it is something that involves two people.
When a couple tries to conceive, but does not achieve the desired pregnancy, the woman often wonders why she cannot achieve it by taking on all the responsibilities on her own, when in fact this is not the case.
The question many couples should ask themselves in the face of this reality is: How long does it take before we start to worry and what should we do? In this article, we will talk about the possible causes of infertility and what to do if pregnancy does not come.
A very important thing to know when you are trying to get pregnant is to recognise your fertile days. Some women are unaware of their own cycle or do not know on which days they are ovulating. Therefore, it is essential to know the ovulation period.
Ovulation occurs approximately 13 to 15 days before the start of each period. Like your menstrual period, the timing of ovulation can vary from cycle to cycle, and sometimes you may not ovulate at all. Although the ovulation process takes two or three days, if you have sex before then you may become pregnant. Sperm survive in a woman for 48-72 hours, which means that if you have had sex two or three days before ovulation, the sperm may be waiting for the egg to fertilise it.
Another doubt we have when we are unable to get pregnant is when to start seeking help. We want to know if we should ask for a consultation as soon as possible, or perhaps it is better to wait rather than rush.
In this case, the answer is very clear, it depends on the woman's age. The specialists at IVF-Life advise you to go for a fertility consultation one year after having unprotected sex during your fertile period, if you are between 30 and 35 years old, and 6 months after if you are over 35 years old.
There are many factors other than age that prevent pregnancy. The most common causes of why you cannot get pregnant are as follows:
Age is the most important factor influencing fertility. The problem is that from the age of 35 onwards, women find it more difficult to become mothers naturally due to a decrease in both ovarian reserve and egg quality, which can also manifest itself in an increase in chromosomal abnormalities in the oocytes.
A key indicator of ovarian reserve is a fertility test that measures AMH (anti-Müllerian hormone) levels.
The endometrium is a key factor when pregnancy does not occur, so it is very important to perform a personalised diagnosis to determine the state of receptivity of the endometrium during the window of implantation.
Endometriosis is one of the main causes that could solve the question of why I can't get pregnant, and occurs when endometrial tissue grows outside the uterus, preventing pregnancy from developing normally.
Some patients wonder, if I already have a child, why can't I get pregnant? The poor quality of the eggs is a cause that in many cases is related to age and appears after the age of 35, but it can also occur in young women with an abnormality or medication that is affecting the eggs.
Patients with poor oocyte quality have a higher rate of structural genetic abnormalities. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can ensure that the best embryo is transferred and increase pregnancy success rates.
Ovulation disorders refer to cases where the eggs do not mature or the ovaries do not release the mature egg.
Tubal factor refers to any alteration in the fallopian tubes that impedes their patency and freedom of movement. The cause of tubal obstruction is due to pelvic inflammation or sexually transmitted infections, among others.
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which a woman has a very high level of hormones (androgens), and this makes it difficult for the ovaries to release mature eggs. This condition can be diagnosed with a simple ultrasound scan at a routine annual check-up.
The most common causes of infertility in men are:
There is a possibility that, after undergoing different fertility tests, the results were normal, so the specialist will not be able to determine the medical cause to answer why I am not getting pregnant.
This may be due to different habits that can influence fertility, such as being overweight, consuming too much caffeine, smoking or being under constant stress.
As we have already mentioned, a young couple who have been trying to get pregnant and are unable to do so after a year should see a specialist to determine the causes of why I am not getting pregnant. In this case, this time is also reduced as the woman gets older or when the man is over 40 years old.
At the fertility clinic, certain tests are carried out to discover the causes of infertility in women and men. The most common tests carried out are:
It is important that, if the couple is made up of a man and a woman, a complete study of both parties is carried out, as the causes of infertility are equally distributed between 40% in men and 40% in women, with the remaining 20% being causes of unexplained infertility.
The most common infertility tests performed on men include the following:
Once the corresponding fertility tests have been carried out, the specialist will recommend in vitro fertilisation treatment (the egg is fertilised in the laboratory by the partner's or donor's sperm) or artificial insemination (depositing a quantity of sperm, previously trained in the laboratory, into the mother's uterus) depending on each case.
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Contact with the Data Protection Officer: dpo@ivf-life-group.com
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