Six common causes of infertility in women

At some point in life when men and women have settled down, they want to bear and bring up children to make a family. This however does not turn out well for everyone since some are not able to conceive and carry a single full term pregnancy no matter how hard they try. This is a result of infertility and it affects about 11% of living people according to research.

There are many reasons why people do not conceive with some being as a result of  health related complications. These include:

1. Blocked and damaged tubes

Blocked or damaged fallopian tubes prevent sperm from getting to your egg for fertilization. This condition also prevents the fertilized egg from getting to your uterus. For a successful pregnancy to take place, your fertilized egg has to move to the uterus for growth and failure could lead  to ectopic pregnancies which can be tragic. Cause for tubal problems include pelvic inflammatory disease, sexually transmitted infections (such as chlamydia), and previous sterilization surgery.

2. Endometriosis

This painful condition occurs when endometrium, the tissue normally found in the lining of the uterus (endometrial tissue) grows outside the uterus. When you have endometriosis, this tissues grows usually n the ovaries, fallopian tubes or the intestines. Endometriosis causes menstrual irregularities and inability to conceive.

3. Polycystic ovarian syndrome

This hormonal disorder affects women and is characterized by enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges. The disorder makes women produce higher-than-normal amounts of male hormones. PCOS affects 1 out of every 10 women mostly in the child bearing age and is characterized mostly by menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne,  increased risk of diabetes, and obesity.

4. Uterine fibroids

When you have uterine fibroids in your child bearing age, there are non-cancerous muscular growths in your uterus. Uterine fibroids can grow on your uterus lining, inside the uterine cavity, within the wall of your uterus or even on the outer surface of your uterus. These benign growths sometimes have no pain but they in most cases cause heavy menstrual bleeding, prolonged periods and pelvic pain.

5. Hypothyroidism

The thyroid hormone is key to regulating metabolism, energy production, oxygen utilization fertility and pregnancy. This is because they are produced by everybody, and play an important part in growth. When you suffer from Hypothyroidism, you have low levels of thyroid hormone which interferes with the release of an egg from your ovary (ovulation), causing infertility.

6. Egg count and quality

Women ovaries produce eggs with different qualities every time and every woman has a different potential number of released eggs that try to win the race for conception each month. Sometimes the released eggs do not have all it takes to make a successful pregnancy due to different factors. Age contributes to infertility since the older you get the lower quality eggs your body will produce.