Signs of infertility are really very simple: Either a couple conceives or they don’t - and if they don’t for over a year - this is a sign of infertility.

And two reasons that aging reduces a woman’s fertility are diminished health of her eggs and a reduced ability of the ovaries to release them. They also have a higher risk for miscarriage and other health problems that affect their fertility.

A woman’s highest fertility is in her 20’s, with her 30’s being a time when she is still relatively fertile. She will start having difficulty conceiving as she gets into her mid to upper 30’s. Miscarriage risks start to come into play in her late 30’s. Fertility decreases appreciably in smokers and drinkers. With more women choosing careers today that put off child-rearing, aging has become the primary reason for infertility.

Infertility is categorized as Primary or Secondary: Primary is when a woman can’t get pregnant after a year of trying and Secondary Infertility is when she can’t after a year of trying - but she had already become pregnant in some year past.

Infertility issues plague both men and women equally, according to some experts, while others say women comprise sixty percent. Statistics show that ten percent of actively trying couples have trouble conceiving, with four of five conceiving within a year. A “normal” amount of time to conceive is considered to be up to two years.

In order to assess their fertility, many partners must both have complete medical exams done. Many of the males in relationships have the problem with fertility, therefore it’s important that both partners get a complete physical.

The first tests normally done by a fertility specialist are for a woman’s levels of FSH and her LH. (These abbreviations stand for Follicle Stimulating Hormone and Luteinizing Hormone.) These tests are usually done on a woman’s first and her third visits to her doctor. It should be noted that the tests for these two hormones - Luteinzing Hormone and Follicle Stimulating Hormone - can be done on the male partner, as well. LH and FSH are both important for male fertility too.

There are many other fertility tests available to the fertility specialist. Some of these - for the female - are the cervical mucus test, hormone tests (other than LH or FSH), and ultrasound tests. The cervical mucus test is done less often now, but sometimes it’s done because the male does not want to be tested. For this test, two to eight hours after intercourse, the doctor will test the vaginal mucus for the presence and health of sperm.

Ultrasounds are a good way to for the fertility specialist to examine the condition of the uterus, ovaries, and cervix without complicated and invasive examination techniques. Ultrasound can also be utilized to determine if ovulation has occurred.

Reproductive Endocrinologists can test for many other important hormones, other than just the luteinizing hormone and the follicle stimulating hormone. The primary ones are: androstenedione, DHEAS, total testosterone, progesterone, estradiol, prolactin, free T3, and free testosterone.

Treating infertility is a subject for an entire series of articles, but in a nutshell, infertility treatments run the gamut from simple drugs to surgery. Infertility treatments can get very expensive and time-consuming - and rarely covered by insurance, so it boils down to how bad a couple wants to conceive. Certain treatable infertility problems include Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS, which is treated with the drugs clomiphene and metformin together.

Failure to ovulate can be treated by clomiphene, with the next level of treatment being hormone therapy. One of the more undesirable side-effects of hormone therapy is the increased likelihood of having 3 or 4 babies all at once.

There are other infertility treatments, but one of the most intense and expensive is IVF, or in vitro fertilization. If you decide to go this route, you should know that acupuncture (by professionals trained specifically in acupuncture fertility therapy) has proven to increase the success rate of IVF pregnancies. Be aware, however, that IVF also increases the chance of multiple births: 1 in 3 IVF couples will be parents of twins.

Janet has been publishing helpful articles on infertility and pregnancy problems and solutions and pregnancy for years. Discover more about the signs of infertility and ways to track fertility with innovative solutions such as the Clear blue Fertility Monitor and other methods on the website.

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