A major source of concern for everyone who intends to start a family is the ability to get pregnant. This is because having offspring signals continuity of life and is a source of pride in this part of the world. Popular sayings like “may we not be like a snake that passes on the rock without traces” point to the importance attached to the conception of a child(en) in one’s lifetime.
As important as this seems, certain individuals are faced with the challenge of the inability to get pregnant and many factors can cause this.
This article discusses what to know about infertility and factors that can prevent individuals from getting pregnant.
According to an article by John Hopkins Medicine, infertility is the inability to conceive. For women with male partners, this is the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected sex when under the age of 35 and after six months for women who are 35 years and above.
According to Chantel Cross, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist, “The majority of people will become pregnant within the first 12 months of trying to conceive with regular unprotected intercourse.”
However, there are a variety of risk factors that can prevent individuals from getting pregnant and they are:
- Age
For women, the ability to conceive comes to an end after their menstrual cycles stop, and this usually happens to women in their 40s and 50s. The male folks on the other hand produce sperm throughout their lives, but women are born with a set number of eggs that decreases with age and so does their fertile window.
It is therefore important to note that the quality and number of eggs a woman has decreases throughout her lifetime and egg loss accelerates around the age of 37, which makes it more difficult to become pregnant.
- Body weight
Being overweight, obese, or underweight can affect a woman’s fertility and obesity can lower fertility in men.
It is important to note that you have a greater chance of getting pregnant and having a healthy baby if you are close to a healthy weight.
It is therefore vital that everyone who desires to get pregnant must aim for a healthy body mass index (BMI) of 18 to 25.
- Cancer treatments
Cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or hormone therapy can reduce fertility in men and women.
Doctors use different types of drugs to treat cancer and some of these drugs can cause changes to your sex life while others might stop you from being able to become pregnant in the future.
- Lifestyle choices
Lifestyle choices are the modifiable habits and ways of life that can greatly influence overall health and well-being, including fertility. Lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking, illicit drug use, and alcohol and caffeine consumption can negatively influence both partners’ fertility.
- Underlying health conditions
Finally, it is important to know that conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, or even chronic stress can make it harder for couples to get pregnant.
So, everyone with underlying health conditions trying to conceive must visit their healthcare provider for the right medical advice.
