✓ Why can not I get pregnant? All the answers

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Why can not I get pregnant?

When a couple feels ready to have a baby and can't, it can be very frustrating. Especially if all the methods to promote pregnancy and the strategies to be able to conceive without success have already been tried. Why can not I get pregnant? The possible causes are really numerous and it is worthwhile to analyze them more in depth.

When to worry if you don't get pregnant

Infertility is defined as the inability to get pregnant after one year of unprotected sex for women under 35 and six months for women aged 35 and over.

The vast majority of people becomes pregnant within the first 12 months of the first attempt to conceive with regular unprotected intercourse. After six months or a year of trying, depending on a woman's age, doctors recommend a clinical assessment of the situation.

Paolo Emanuele Levi Setti, Head of the Reproductive Medicine Operating Unit at the Humanitas Clinical Institute, explains, therefore, that:

If after 12 months of free intercourse and therefore not influenced by the constant and almost maniacal search for a child, you have not yet become pregnant, it would be better to start turning to a specific fertility specialist. If the woman's age is over 36 or there has been any event in the past that could have created problems (operations, illnesses) this limit should be lowered to six months

Also read: When to have intercourse to get pregnant

When is medically assisted procreation techniques used?

There is no absolute rule: it is the expert who assesses, on a case by case basis, also based on the age of the couple and the outcome of the examinations, if and when to proceed with medically assisted procreation techniques.

Read also: Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Because you don't get pregnant right away

Lifestyle has a huge impact on your and your partner's fertility. Doctors argue that factors to consider include:

the stress,
excessive consumption of alcohol and coffee
and smoking.

Furthermore, in women, ovulation can be influenced by obesity or excessive thinness. Before worrying, therefore, take a critical examination of your lifestyle. In Del Paese, about 20% of couples have fertility problems.

Assessing the impact of different infertility factors is very difficult. A reliable estimate, albeit relating only to a part of the population, comes from the data concerning couples who go to assisted reproduction centers. The data collected by the National Register on Medically Assisted Procreation are as follows:

male infertility: 35,4%
female infertility: 35,5%
male and female infertility: 15%
idiopathic infertility: 13,2%
other: 1%

Also see the video on what to do when the child does not arrive

The possible causes

Here are some factors that can make getting pregnant more difficult and hinder conception:

late age in becoming pregnant: the most fertile period for a woman is in fact between 20 and 25 years (100%), remains high up to 35 (about 50%), undergoes a significant decline from 35 to 40 (20%), is very low over 40 (5-7%). The age of the man is much less significant. However, older men have worse ejaculate both in qualitative and quantitative terms;
weight problems: both obesity and excessive thinness can affect fertility. Both obese and underweight women can have an alteration in the production of steroid hormones, which interferes with the regulation of the cycle;
lifestyle, environmental pollution: environmental conditions and lifestyle (including stress) also seem to influence female and male infertility. Even if reaching certain conclusions is difficult because the factors to be evaluated are many and heterogeneous. Cigarette smoking can also harm male and female fertility, just as exposure to pollutants produced by urban traffic can have a negative effect;
sexually transmitted diseases: syphilis, gonorrhea and even the most insidious chlamydia on the one hand often make sexual intercourse painful, on the other hand they have a toxic effect on spermatozoa and alter the chemical balance of the vagina. If any symptoms appear, do not hesitate, go to the gynecologist / andrologist;
endometriosis: a widespread disease in the country and one of the leading causes of female infertility. It originates from the abnormal presence of the endometrium, the tissue that lines the inner surface of the uterus, in other organs such as ovaries, tubes or vagina;
anabolic steroids: are those doping substances, used in sports, which serve to increase muscle mass. High doses taken regularly have negative effects on fertility and health;
working conditions: exposure to radiation, toxic substances or microtrauma increase the risk of infertility.

Medical problems

One or more medical factors that can contribute to infertility in women are:

Obstruction of the fallopian tubes
Irregularly shaped uterus
Problems and abnormalities in ovulation, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Nell 'man:

all pathologies capable of altering the structure and function of the testicle or penis (such as, for example, cryptothorchidism or hypospadias).
Testicular cancer, in particular, is both a risk factor in itself and as a consequence of chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment.
A known, but not always decisive, factor of male infertility is varicocele (enlargement of the testicular vein). Genetic factors are also considered. For example, it has been hypothesized that an alteration on the long arm of the Y chromosome leads to an increased risk of oligozoospermia.

References

Institutional info: National register of medically assisted procreation.
Associations dealing with fertility problems: Amica Cicogna; I am looking for a child; The Other Stork; unbambino.com; Hera
Rossella Bartolucci, head of the Sos Infertilità association and author of the book "Flying with the storks" - Mammeonline Publishing House;
Giulia Scaravelli,Head of the National Register of Medically Assisted Procreation of the National Institute of Health

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