Fertility Overview

How To Plan Your First Visit

How to Get Pregnant

Women have been getting pregnant for thousands of years, so it's really not that complicated, right?Actually, it is. It's not that easy to get pregnant. To maximize your chances of getting pregnant naturally or with fertility treatment, you need to get to know your menstrual cycle. The average length of the menstrual cycle is 28 days; however it can range from 25 to 36 days.Your menstrual cycle has three phases. Your period (menstruation) occurs... Read more

When Can You Get Pregnant?

When you are trying to get pregnant, there are certain times in your menstrual cycle that you are more fertile than others. Your fertile days occur near the time that your ovaries release a mature egg for fertilization — a time known as ovulation. In women who have a 28-day menstrual cycle, ovulation usually occurs between day 13 and 15. The egg that is released lasts up to 24 hours in the woman's body. Sperm, however, lasts several days in the... Read more

Tips on Trying to Conceive

There are several things you can do to improve your fertility when trying to conceive. These tips will also help you improve your chances of success with fertility treatments. Stop smoking before trying to conceive. Smoking decreases your fertility. Drink fewer than four drinks of alcohol per week. a recent study found that for men or women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF), drinking four or more drinks per week prior to an IVF cycle was... Read more

Age and Fertility

Approximately 20 percent of women wait until age 35 to start trying to get pregnant, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. But when trying to get pregnant, age matters. Even if you feel young in every other way, trying to conceive after age 35 usually takes longer. Many women don't realize that their fertility begins to decline as early as their late 20s. A healthy 30-year-old woman has a 20 percent chance per month to... Read more

Trying to Conceive over Age 40

If you are a woman over 40, your chance of getting pregnant naturally is only about 5 percent per month, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). For women ages 40 to 44, 29 percent are infertile, compared to only 15 percent of women ages 30 to 34 and 7 percent of women ages 20 to 24. As you age, the eggs in your ovaries also age and are more likely to have genetic abnormalities. For example, a woman who is age 40... Read more

Cervical Factor Infertility

Sperm must swim in the cervical mucus traveling from the vagina through the cervix and into the uterus. Small glands that line the cervix produce cervical mucus. The mucus must provide nutritional support for sperm and be of the correct consistency. Too little or "sticky" mucus can interfere with sperm transport causing infertility.When estrogen levels increase prior to ovulation it causes increased mucus production and the mucus... Read more

Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a common cause of infertility and pelvic pain in women. Up to 40% of women having trouble trying to conceive have endometriosis. Endometriosis appears to be more common in daughters of women who had endometriosis, suggesting a genetic link. Endometriosis symptoms include pain during menstruation, intercourse, bowel movements, or emptying the bladder. It is also often present with no symptoms. Endometriosis occurs when... Read more

Infertility Causes and Risks

Some leisure activities, jobs, and the use of drugs & medications may all increase the chances of infertility. On the positive side, some lifestyle changes may bolster a couple's chances of having a family. Factors that can influence fertility include: SmokingDrug UseEnvironmental CausesWeightStressCaffeineTiming and Frequency of Sex Read more

Infertility Specialists

A fertility doctor (reproductive endocrinologist) should be consulted early in the course of infertility treatment. According to standards set by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), women less than 35 years of age who have unsuccessfully been trying to conceive for one year are considered infertile. Most infertility doctors shorten this time to six months in women aged 35 and older.  Infertility specialists complete... Read more

Infertility Tests

Fertility tests evaluate the separate processes that must occur for pregnancy to result. HRC infertility specialists will oversee a thorough screening of each couple's medical history and hormonal health as well as a physical exam to determine the likely cause of infertility and to create a treatment plan.  The most common causes of infertility in the female include ovarian disease, tubal disease, endometriosis, uterine disease, cervical... Read more

Unexplained Infertility

The diagnosis of unexplained Infertility is made after a standard fertility work up fails to provide an explanation for a couple's infertility.About 15% of couples that have been trying to conceive for a year without success will have normal findings after a standard fertility work up. By definition, these couples have unexplained infertility. Why is their infertility unexplained? The simple answer is there are limitations to our... Read more

Male Infertility

Male infertility is now recognized as a major contributing cause to many couples infertility. Society once judged infertility to be primarily a "female problem". Male infertility has been shown, by well-controlled scientific studies, to be present in up to 47% of infertile couples. This fact makes the semen analysis one of the most important fertility diagnostic tests. Sperm abnormalities must be ruled out before any female therapy can... Read more

Miscarriage

Nothing is more disappointing for a couple than to achieve pregnancy only to have it end prematurely in miscarriage. This is particularly true for couples that have undergone infertility treatments. Unfortunately miscarriage will occur in approximately 15 percent of all pregnancies in younger women. Recurrent pregnancy loss is defined as the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies. Data also indicate that the miscarriage rate increases as... Read more

Obesity

Obese women have a greater incidence of reproductive-related disorders including problems in pregnancy. The conventional approach in the past has been to carefully monitor patients who have high-risk pregnancies; e.g. gestational diabetes, multiple gestations, etc. Based on more recent data, it seems that overweight/obese individuals represent another high-risk group for infertility. At HRC, initial treatment of the overweight/obese... Read more

Ovulation

Every month a normally ovulating female releases a mature egg according to precise timing governed by hormones. The hypothalamus is a small gland located at the base of the brain, which can be thought of as a "thermostat". Estrogen levels are monitored by the hypothalamus and as they increase, the hypothalamus signals the pituitary to reduce production of FSH. Once the hormone levels indicate that the follicles are mature, the... Read more

PCOS

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder causing infertility in 3 percent to 10 percent of reproductive-aged women. PCOS prevents follicles in the ovary from producing and releasing mature eggs. This results in polycystic ovaries (i.e., ovaries with many small follicles or cysts), infertility and hormonal imbalances. Fertility specialists define PCOS as the presence of chronic anovulation (not ovulating) or an excess... Read more

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is a wonderful option for couples who are at risk of transmitting a genetic disease to their children. PGD allows the physician and embryologist to determine if an embryo carries a specific disease based on its genetic composition. PGD is used to screen for abnormal numbers of chromosomes, broken or damaged chromosomes, and other anomalies. PGD can be used to screen for many conditions... Read more

Semen Analysis Results

The semen analysis is the first step in evaluating the male factor for couples undergoing an infertility evaluation.  It is important to evaluate the male so the female does not go through more invasive testing or treatments unnecessarily. The semen analysis report contains several pieces of data.  The most important values are volume, count, motility, and morphology.  Here is a brief description of these factors and their... Read more

Tubal Factor Infertility

In a typical menstrual cycle, once the follicles reach maturity, the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge occurs, which causes ovulation 36 hours later. The egg is ovulated into the end of the fallopian tube and travels to the distal end where fertilization occurs. Any condition that impedes, or blocks, egg transport through the tubes can cause tubal factor infertility. In many of these cases in vitro fertilization (IVF) is the treatment of first... Read more

Diagnosing and Treating Tubal Factor Infertility

Diagnosis To begin the evaluation of the fallopian tubes and uterus, the infertility specialist orders a hysterosalpingogram (HSG). In this test, dye is inserted into the uterus and x-rays are taken as it flows back through the tubes. Blockages are seen as concentrations of dye. Treatment In vitro fertilization (IVF) is usually recommended as a first line treatment when moderate to severe tubal damage is present. However the fertility... Read more

Uterine Factor Infertility

Uterine Factor Infertility Abnormalities of the uterus can cause infertility by interfering with embryo implantation and fetal growth. Uterine factor infertility is relatively uncommon occurring in less than 5 percent of women. Sometimes a woman is born with a misshapen uterus, such as the bicornuate or horned uterus, which can sometimes be corrected surgically. Large polyps and fibroids can also interfere with fetal growth and are removed... Read more