Having a baby can be one of the most important events in a couple’s life, but getting pregnant depends on a person’s fertility. Various fertility issues affect men and women all over the world. Many don’t know they suffer from infertility until they try to get pregnant. Fertility issues usually can be addressed by a medical specialist, and can often be remedied through treatments and procedures. With today’s advancements in health technology, women and men can even conceive without using their own sperm and egg.

In the following questions and answers, you will learn about different issues regarding fertility in both men and women.

Can eating disorders affect fertility?
Women suffering from anorexia nervosa and bulimia can increase their chances of infertility because of the damage done to their body. Eating disorders cause severe weight loss, anxiety, depression, a lack of nutritional value and can even damage major organs. All of these factors contribute to a woman’s ability to conceive. Anorexic women also suffer from amenorrhea, a condition were menstrual cycles cease.

If this continues for a long period of time and women are not able to start their cycles, infertility can be permanent. Eating disorders lead to poor egg quality, poor uterine environment, ovarian failure and miscarriages. There are treatment options for women suffering from an eating disorder. Women who successfully undergo treatment can increase their chances of conceiving by seventy-five to eighty percent.

What is hypogonadism?

What is the concept behind the Basal Body Temperature?

Women have two main hormones that are present during a 28-day menstrual cycle. The hormone that shows up during the first part of the cycle is estrogen, considered to be a “cool” hormone. The second part of the cycle is taken over by progesterone, considered to be a “warm” hormone. The presence of progesterone is when ovulation occurs for a female, usually around day fifteen or sixteen of her menstrual cycle. Because progesterone is warm, the body temperature will spike up, usually around .4 degrees over a 48-hour period. Basal body temperature is your body’s temperature at a resting state, usually before getting out of bed in the morning. The Basal body temperature goes up and can be charted by using a basic thermometer and a menstrual cycle chart. All of this together tells a woman when she is more likely to conceive because her ovaries have released an egg to be fertilized.

Can age play a role in infertility for women?
Women are born with about 300,000 eggs in their ovaries. Close to 300 of those eggs will be shed during the reproductive years, starting after puberty and reaching the late 30’s. As a woman ages, natural changes occur in the body. These changes can make it difficult for a woman to get pregnant, especially when she’s reaching the early stages of menopause. Eggs in women in their 40’s are poorer quality than eggs of a woman in her 20’s, making it harder to conceive. Because hormones change as a woman ages, her body may not respond as well to hormones. This can cause a woman to not release an egg each month when she is older. Not only is it more difficult for women to conceive after a certain age, but there are certain risks involved if she does get pregnant. The eggs may not fully develop after conception and the risk for a miscarriage increases as a woman ages. There is also the possibility of genetic defects in older eggs, such as Down syndrome.