It’s Fertility Week. Unfortunately, our fertility is becoming less and less good. While previously 1 in 10 couples had difficulty becoming pregnant, this is now the case with 1 in 6 couples, according to research. Numbers of the World Health Organization (WHO).
We speak of reduced fertility if a couple is not pregnant after a year of regular unprotected sex. Fertility doctor Grada van den Dool tells AD: “The description is confusing. Because reduced fertility means that becoming pregnant is not easy, but that there are chances of conceiving a pregnancy. That is different from actually being infertile. For example, if as a woman you do not produce eggs and as a man you do not produce sperm cells. Then treatment is impossible.”
Causes of fertility problems
Medical factors often play a role in fertility problems: “Such as blocked fallopian tubes or sperm ducts, reduced sperm quality or endometriosis (mucous membrane does not grow inside but outside the uterus, ed.). Or if ovulation does not occur (PCOS), this affects approximately 15 percent of fertile women.” Lifestyle also influences fertility, for example smoking: “Women who have smoked all their lives can enter menopause up to five years earlier. It then becomes much more difficult to fulfill a wish to have children at a later age, 38 for example.” In men, the use of testosterone or other anabolic steroids can be a cause: “This can reduce or even temporarily stop sperm production.”
Why are more and more couples having trouble getting pregnant?
According to Van den Dool, it is not known why the number of couples with fertility problems is increasing: “Science does not yet have an answer to that. Except that people used to only sign up after two years of trying. Now that’s because the definition has changed, after a year. Which automatically means I see more people. And there are other explanations too.” According to the fertility doctor, one of those explanations is that women now, on average, start having children at a later age than in the past: “The older, the smaller the chance of pregnancy.” The fertility doctor’s advice is: “Start thinking about your desire to have children in time. Ideally, you should start having your first child before the age of 30.”
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2023-11-12 10:52:30
#Research #shows #couples #difficulty #conceiving
