Female Infertility Treatments
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Struggling to conceive a child can be devastating. But there are experts who can help you grow your family. Female infertility problems are often related to ovulation or problems with fallopian tubes.
Problems with Ovulation
If the egg is not released from the follicle in the ovary, you will not be able to conceive. Up to 40% of cases are due to this. Some factors that can cause problems are:
- Hormonal disorders
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome
- Ovulation disorder
- Ovarian cysts
Problems with Fallopian Tubes
Damaged or blocked fallopian tubes can prevent an egg fertilization or hamper its travel to the uterus. Sources of damage include:
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Endometriosis
- Previous surgeries that have changed pelvic structures or caused scar tissue in the pelvis
- Ectopic pregnancies
- Birth defects
Understanding Infertility in Women
Infertility is not being able to conceive after a year of trying. Carrie Sopata, MD, discusses why you should choose UVA.
Carrie Sopata: Infertility in women is when a couple has been trying to conceive for 12 months unsuccessfully. So that means they haven't been using any birth control, no barrier contraceptive like condoms, for 12 months and they just haven't had a positive pregnancy test. Fertility is multi-factorial. And sometimes it's more than one thing that's going on, so the workup for infertility includes trying to figure out, first of all, from the history, what might be the problem.
If the history is that a woman isn't having regular periods then I would focus more on ovulation and trying to figure out why not. If there's a history of pelvic infections or other abdominal surgeries then we might look at determining if the fallopian tubes are open. Similarly, if I have any concerns about the size or shape of the uterus then we might do some imaging to determine if that's a factor. And then we also talk about male factor infertility, so if everything else seems normal then we also look at the partner and try to help determine if that's an issue.
Medication
Medications can help with ovulation. The chances of multiple births increases with these medications.
Surgery
Surgery can unblock fallopian tubes, repair problems, or remove:
- Ovarian cysts
- Fibroids
- Scar tissue
Other Causes of Female Infertility
Other factors that increase your chance of becoming infertile include:
- Being older than 35 years old
- Very high or very low levels of body fat (resulting in lack of ovulation)
- Chronic diseases, such as:
- Diabetes
- Lupus
- Arthritis
- Hypertension
- Asthma
- Smoking
- Caffeine and alcohol consumption
- Occupational exposure to:
- High temperatures
- Toxic substances
- Chemicals
- Pesticides
- Radiation
- Constant stress
- History of:
- Polycystic ovaries
- Kidney failure
- Cirrhosis
- Pituitary tumors
- Anorexia nervosa
- Autoimmune hypothyroidism
- Uterine fibroids
- Ulcerative colitis
- Crohn's disease
- Epilepsy
- Cushing's disease
- Sickle cell anemia
- HIV infection
- Kidney disease
- Appendicitis with complications (ruptured appendix)
- Pain medicine, antibiotics and antidepressants
Diagnostic Testing
We can do these tests to see if you're ovulating:
- Basal body temperature — rises at ovulation and remains elevated during the second half of your cycle and throughout pregnancy; you take your temperature every day and record it on a chart
- Blood test — to measure hormone levels
- Endometrial biopsy — to see if ovulation is causing changes in the lining of the uterus
Your doctor can evaluate your reproductive organs using:
- Hysterosalpingography (HSG) — an X-ray of the uterus and fallopian tubes
- Transvaginal ultrasound — a device inserted into the vagina to take a "picture" of the pelvic organs
- Hysteroscopy — a thin device inserted through the cervix to look inside the uterus
- Laparoscopy — a small device with a camera inserted into incisions in the abdomen