Female Infertility

Problems with ovulation is a common cause for infertility in women. Without ovulation, eggs are not available to be fertilised.

Simple Ovulation Observations

For a woman, the first step in testing is to find out if she is ovulating each month. There are several ways to do this. This includes doing basal body temperature charts, checking cervical secretions and doing urine or blood tests.

Signs of problems with ovulation include irregular menstrual periods or no periods.

Female’s Age and Infertility

Ageing is an important factor in female infertility. The ability of a woman’s ovaries to produce eggs declines with age, especially after age 35.

About one third of couples where the woman is over 35 will have problems with fertility.

By the time a woman reaches menopause, monthly periods stop for good and can no longer produce eggs . Unfortunately egg quality diminishes many years prior to this reducing the chances of a successful pregnancy.

Other Causes of Female Infertility

Areas that lead to infertility in women include:

• Lifestyle factors – including stress, diet, or athletic training – can affect a woman’s hormonal balance.
• Hormonal imbalance from a serious medical problem such as a pituitary gland tumour can cause ovulation problems.
• Blocked fallopian tubes at one or both ends, the egg can’t travel through the tubes into the uterus. Blocked tubes may result from pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, or surgery for an ectopic pregnancy.
• Presence of endometriosis and adenomyosis.