Why cant i get my girlfriend pregnant

What Is Infertility? | Causes of Infertility in Men & Women

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Infertility Signs, Symptoms, and Causes
Should my partner and I get tested for infertility?

How do I cope with infertility?

What is infertility?

Infertility is when you have trouble getting pregnant or staying pregnant. Fertility problems can happen in people of all genders, and can have many causes.

Infertility is common.

Some people have a hard time getting pregnant or staying pregnant. You’re generally diagnosed with infertility if you don’t get pregnant after 1 year or more of trying, or if you have multiple miscarriages. There are treatments for many kinds of infertility, and many people go on to have a healthy pregnancy and a child.

Fertility isn't just a “woman’s problem” or an issue with age. Lots of things can lead to infertility, and it can affect people of all sexes and ages. When a couple has a hard time getting pregnant, either person (or both people) is equally likely to be the cause. That’s why both people are usually tested for infertility if a couple is having trouble getting pregnant.

What causes infertility?

There are lots of possible causes of infertility. Seeing a doctor that specializes in infertility can help you figure out what’s causing your fertility problems and find the best treatments for you. Sometimes there’s no known reason for infertility — this is called unexplained infertility. Unexplained infertility can be really frustrating, but there are still usually treatment options that you can try.

Causes of infertility in cis women

Some common reasons for infertility in cis women include:

untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea
not ovulating (not releasing eggs from your ovaries)
your fallopian tubes are blocked so sperm can’t get to your egg
poor egg quality
the shape of your uterus makes it hard for a fertilized egg to implant
endometriosis
uterine fibroids

Causes of infertility in cis men

The most common causes of infertility in cis men include:

untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea
low sperm count (not having enough sperm in your semen)
poor sperm motility (when sperm doesn’t swim well enough to reach an egg)
sperm that aren’t formed correctly
semen that’s too thick for sperm to easily move around in it
no sperm in your semen

Having too much or too little of some of the hormones that help your body make sperm can also lead to sperm-related problems that cause infertility.

Infertility can also be caused by a problem with ejaculation. If the tubes inside your penis or testicles are blocked, you may have a hard time ejaculating, or nothing comes out when you have an orgasm. Sometimes, ejaculation can send semen backward from your prostate into your bladder, instead of out of your penis.

If you’re trans and using hormones

Gender affirming hormone treatments and surgeries can lead to infertility, but they don’t always lead to infertility. If you want to get pregnant, talk with your doctor or nurse about your fertility options. If you don’t want to get pregnant, use birth control.

What might increase my risk of infertility?

There are certain health and lifestyle factors that can increase your chances of having fertility problems. They include:

being older than 35 (for women)
being very overweight or underweight
chemotherapy or radiation
lots of exposure to environmental toxins, like lead or pesticides
excessive drug or alcohol use
smoking cigarettes
not getting recommended testing for chlamydia/gonorrhea
a history of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
injury to the scrotum and testes
overheated testicles (from wearing clothing that’s too tight, or swimming or bathing in hot water often and recently)
having an undescended testicle

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Why She Can't Get Pregnant

Single guys worry about “slipping one past the goalie.” But when you and your partner decide to start a family, scoring a goal may prove tougher than you anticipated.

Research suggests only 1 out of 5 couples have success the first month they start trying for kids, and nearly 20 percent won’t get lucky within the first year. Bottom line: Knocking up your partner isn’t always easy—even if you’re both healthy and fertile, says Tobias Köhler, M.D., chief of Southern Illinois University’s Fertility and IVF Center.

That said, if you and your girl have been trying for a while without success, these five crazy factors could explain your inability to conceive:

1. You Practice Too Close to the Big Game
Your sperm count can decrease by as much as 50 percent if you ejaculate on a daily basis, Dr. Köhler explains. Sperm motility—or your swimmers’ ability to make it to your partner’s egg—also takes a hit every time you orgasm. That means guys hoping to have kids should knock off their usual masturbation habits in the week leading up to their attempts at conception, Dr. Köhler says. “It’s best if you lay off for at least 3 to 5 days before trying to conceive,” he adds.

2. Your Junk Might Be Faulty
Roughly one out of every 100 men suffers from some form of hypospadias—or a misplaced urethra opening, Dr. Köhler says. Basically, this means the hole at the tip of your penis doesn’t sit in quite the right spot. “It could be just a small fraction off, and you’d never notice it,” he explains. “Or, in more extreme cases, it could be located well down the underside of your shaft toward your testicles.” This condition can screw up the trajectory of your ejaculate, making it nearly impossible for your “boys” to reach your partner’s cervix and egg. Guys with hypospadias may have to consider artificial insemination methods, Dr. Köhler says.

3. You're Fueling Up with the Wrong Foods
Both soy and dairy contain nutrients with estrogen-raising properties. And if your estrogen hormones become elevated in relation to your testosterone levels, your sperm production falls, Dr. Köhler explains. He recommends staying away from both soy and dairy while your partner is trying to get pregnant. (On the other hand, eating fruit, vegetables, and taking a multivitamin have all been shown to bolster your sperm counts and motility, he says.)

4. The Heat Is On (Your Lap)
While old rumors about “tighty whities” and bike shorts are BS, Dr. Köhler says it’s true that hot tubs, saunas, and Jacuzzis can heat up your nuts to the point that your sperm production and motility plummets. Another possible sperm killer: working with a laptop positioned over your privates. If you’re sitting around in the heat with a hot laptop on your baby makers, you may be raising the thermostat to a level your sperm can’t handle, Dr. Köhler suggests.

5. You Puff Different Stuff
There’s lots of evidence that smoking cigarettes hurts a man’s ability to reproduce. And Dr. Köhler says the same could be said for those guys with a regular pot habit. “The mechanisms aren’t well understood,” he says. But circulatory problems arising from smoking anything, not to mention inhaling toxins from marijuana that end up in your blood stream, could explain how smoking weed could negatively affect your chances at conceiving.

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Markham Heid

Markham Heid is an experienced health reporter and writer, has contributed to outlets like TIME, Men’s Health, and Everyday Health, and has received reporting awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Maryland, Delaware, and D.C. Press Association.

Why can't I get pregnant?

Many women turn to a gynecologist for help with infertility. Moreover, different women define this problem differently. Some wait 3-4 years and only then go to the doctor, while others begin to worry after 2-3 months of trying to get pregnant. Sometimes women come to my office who are not planning a pregnancy at the moment, but just want to make sure that everything is fine with them and they can have children.

Infertility is defined in the medical literature as the absence of pregnancy after 12 months of regular intercourse without the use of contraceptives.

Causes of infertility

Infertility is a problem that affects both partners. Although many patients mistakenly believe that infertility is a purely female problem. Of course, this is not true. Infertility is divided into 2 categories:

primary and secondary. In men, primary infertility means that none of his partners has become pregnant; secondary infertility means that at least one of his partners has had a pregnancy. There are many reasons for male infertility, for example, varicocele, the absence of spermatozoa in the semen; obstruction of the vas deferens, etc. The main test for male infertility or, conversely, fertility, is a spermogram, or semen analysis for the number of spermatozoa, their mobility, morphology, etc. nine0005

Female infertility is also divided into primary and secondary. Primary infertility - when a woman has never become pregnant; secondary infertility - when there was a pregnancy in the past, and it does not matter whether this pregnancy ended in childbirth, abortion or ectopic pregnancy.

The female factor is the cause of infertility in 40% of cases. In 15% of cases, the causes of a couple's infertility cannot be determined (infertility of unexplained origin), in 20-30% of the couple more than one disorder is detected, male infertility is about 20%. nine0005

Let's dwell in more detail on the causes of female infertility

Problems with ovulation

First, let's look at what ovulation is . During a normal menstrual cycle, the female ovary (female gonad) releases an egg (ovulates) every 24 to 35 days. Ovulation usually occurs 12-14 days before the start of the next menstrual cycle, with the greatest chance of getting pregnant either on the day of ovulation or 2-4 days before ovulation. The problem with ovulation occurs when the egg does not mature or is not viable. This happens when the ovaries do not produce mature follicles and an egg is not released. nine0005

Lack of ovulation is the most common cause of female infertility. In turn, the lack of ovulation is caused by various disorders in the female body.

Complex hormonal processes regulate the harmonious functioning of the brain and ovaries. If one of the links of this fragile chain is broken, then the correct signal from the central nervous system does not enter the ovaries, and ovulation does not occur. This can occur due to head trauma, tumors, certain medications, and various chemical disorders. Hormonal disorders can affect the hypothalamus (a part of the brain) and the pituitary gland (an endocrine gland located next to the hypothalamus). nine0005

A very common reason for not ovulating is an increase in blood levels of prolactin, a hormone produced by the pituitary gland.

Polycystic ovaries

This is a common syndrome that leads to hormonal disorders. Outwardly, polycystic manifests itself in irregular menstrual cycles or their absence for several months, and in some cases - in increased hair growth and overweight. In polycystic ovaries, many small follicles form in the ovary, but none of them fully mature, and the egg is not released. nine0005

I want to emphasize that ovulation is a complex process that depends on the correct hormonal signals. With polycystic ovaries, the hormonal background is disturbed. Therefore, one of the important tests for the causes of infertility is the determination of blood levels of the hormone estrogen (produced by the ovary), pituitary hormones FSH / LH, and male sex hormones.

Another common hormonal disorder leading to female infertility is abnormalities in the function of the thyroid gland, when, as a result of hormonal imbalance, again, a fertile egg is not developed. nine0005

Damage to the fallopian tubes

The fallopian tubes carry the egg from its birthplace, the ovary, to the place where it meets the sperm, the uterus. If the tubes are damaged, then the egg does not get to the right place or gets stuck in the tube (this is how an ectopic pregnancy occurs ). The tubes can be damaged as a result of an infectious or inflammatory process, decreased mobility of the fallopian cilia, or a congenital anomaly.

After an infection (this can be a venereal or postpartum/postabortion infection), adhesions occur in the tubes that prevent the normal functioning of the fallopian tubes or even lead to their complete obstruction. nine0005

Endometriosis

Normally, the endometrium is the cell lining that lines the inside of the uterus. This layer is renewed every month during menstruation. Endometriosis is a disease in which endometrial cells grow outside the uterus, such as on the surface of the ovaries, in the abdominal cavity, etc. Clinically, endometriosis is manifested by pain during menstruation, during intercourse, and infertility. Endometriosis causes infertility due to adhesions between the tubes, the formation of cysts on the ovaries, and the suppression of ovulation. nine0005

Uterine anomalies

Some women are born with various uterine anomalies. Moreover, menstruation proceeds normally, and anomalies manifest themselves only in the childbearing period. Congenital anomalies are very diverse: there can be two uteruses, there is a bicornuate uterus, a uterus with a septum, etc. Infertility can also be caused by acquired problems, for example, polyps of the body or cervix, fibromas (also called fibroids) of the uterus , various disorders in the cervical canal. nine0005

Psychological problems

It should be noted that psychological causes of infertility are quite rare and difficult to deal with. In addition, knowing our stressful daily life, it is difficult to advise the patient to be less nervous and avoid stressful situations.

Often, couples who are faced with the problem of infertility do not know where to turn and where to find the information they are interested in. But remember that the best source of information is a gynecologist, because every couple is unique, and your problem requires an attentive and individual approach from a specialist. nine0005

It is very important that during this period you have a competent doctor with you who will tell you about the methods of diagnosing and treating infertility. We are sure that there are very few truly hopeless situations, it is important to correctly determine the cause and prescribe individual treatment.

Top 10 mistakes when trying to get pregnant

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There are times when doctors did not reveal any abnormalities in you and your partner, but the long-awaited pregnancy still does not occur. And it already seems to you that this is not a natural phenomenon, but the real magic of luck and genetics. For some, pregnancy happens "from the first time", while others turn their lives into a real nightmare. nine0091 It's all about making similar mistakes, we tell you about the most common of them.

Mistake #1⃣: Worrying too much

Chances are you have at least one friend who, when she became pregnant, said, "It happened exactly at the moment when I stopped thinking about it." It's annoying, frustrating, and nerve-wracking, especially when all you want to do is have a baby. Stress can be one of the main reasons you can't get pregnant: high levels of the stress hormone cortisol can negatively impact fertility. Relax and try to let go of the situation for a while. Stop planning your pregnancy so much and remind yourself every day that this is a miracle that actually happens very, very often. nine0091 Mistake #2⃣: Doing Too Much/Little
If you're going to do this, do it right! Many couples believe that if you "save" sperm and do not have sex for a week, then the chances of conception will increase significantly. This is not true. After about a week of abstinence, sperm motility is markedly reduced. For successful conception, doctors recommend having sex every day or every other day for a week up to and including the day of ovulation. In addition, having regular sex has been proven to help regulate your cycle: your partner's body releases hormones that affect your reproductive system, so having regular sex increases the production of estrogen. nine0091 Mistake #3⃣: Use questionable practices
It would seem that the 21st century is in the yard, but many women still continue to believe in the miraculous power of douching. Sperm in such an environment dies and cannot fertilize the egg, which is why many people use a weak solution of soda to make the environment alkaline and create favorable conditions for conception. But doctors are opposed to this method: soda kills not only harmful microorganisms, but also beneficial ones, thus violating the natural pH of the vagina. nine0091 Mistake #4⃣: Blame Yourself
Speaking of infertility, we tend to think that the problem is on the part of the woman. But in fact, the responsibility lies equally on both partners. Doctors say that in 40% of cases of infertility, the cause must be sought on the part of the man, in another 40% - on the part of the woman. The remaining 20% is compatibility, a combination of both partners. But do not panic ahead of time. Remember that it takes 6 months to a year for a healthy couple to successfully conceive. nine0091 Mistake #5⃣: Miscalculating
The most common mistake is the incorrect determination of the day of ovulation. Another common mistake is not counting the beginning of the cycle from the first day of menstruation. The first day of your period is when you bleed. Not the day before, not the day after. For successful conception, the bill goes literally to the clock, which is why it is so important to know the exact day the cycle began.
Mistake #6⃣: Living on a schedule
No matter how hard you try, pregnancy is impossible to plan. As mentioned above, it takes a healthy couple from 6 months to a year to conceive. But many women need half a year just to normalize their cycle after the end of taking contraceptives. Ovulation will not occur until the cycle becomes regular. Therefore, if after 6 months your cycle has not returned to normal or you are not sure that you are ovulating, it is worth visiting a doctor. nine0091 Mistake #7⃣: Hurry
No one knows why so many people are sarcastic about the statement that after intercourse it is advisable to lie on your back with your buttocks slightly raised for about 20 minutes. Doctors unanimously claim that this method increases the possibility of conception by as much as 80%! Therefore, if you want to dance a victory dance after a successful conception, as you think, refrain - at least for 20 minutes.
Mistake #8⃣: Ignoring your “crazy” worries
Maybe you have always had an irregular cycle and because of this you are having difficulty conceiving. Or perhaps you have diabetes and want to make sure everything is under control before you get pregnant. Consulting a specialist does not mean being paranoid! There are situations in which you should not ignore your worries: here you are thinking not only about yourself, but also about your unborn child. If you have any questions or worries, it is better to immediately find a specialist who will explain everything and tell you about the pitfalls that you may encounter specifically on your way. Thus, if you encounter difficulties in trying to get pregnant, you will already be ready for them. nine0091 Mistake #9⃣: Not giving up bad habits
A lot has already been said on this topic, but it will still not be superfluous to repeat: it is necessary to give up bad habits at least a year before trying to get pregnant. Why do women continue to drink alcohol and smoke, knowing how detrimental this affects the ability to conceive? Doctors around the world warn: the first trimester is the most important in the formation of the child's body. There is no such amount of alcohol that would be safe for him.