Coping with Infertility

Lesson 1: Suspecting and Diagnosing Infertility

What Infertility Is

The most commonly recognized 'definition' of infertility is a couple's inability to become pregnant after 12 months of well-timed, unprotected intercourse. The real definition also includes those women that have been unable to have a successful pregnancy, and women that have had a child previously but have been unable to conceive and/or have an additional successful pregnancy.

Let's look at 'Primary Infertility' first. This is the when a couple fails to achieve a pregnancy after 12 consecutive months of well-timed, unprotected intercourse. Primary Infertility also includes women that have been unable to carry any pregnancy successfully. Basically, Primary Infertility means that the woman has not had any children prior to the infertility diagnosis.

Secondary Infertility is basically the same as primary infertility. The only thing that is different is that Secondary Infertility is diagnosed after at least one successful pregnancy.

Repeated miscarriages is referred to as RSA or Recurrent Spontaneous Abortions, two or more pregnancy losses in a row where the pregnancy does not progress past 20 weeks. This is a cause of either primary or secondary infertility and will be explored further in section 4 of this Lesson. What you should know right now, before moving further through this course is that many women may be suffering from RSA and not know it.

You can learn if you are suffering from repeated miscarriages in this course. Take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and relax. The primary thing to remember as you work through this course is that you have several treatment options for all forms of infertility, even if it is repeated miscarriages.

Now, I will list a few things that infertility is not.

• Infertility is not when you can't get pregnant after trying for a couple of months.
• Infertility is not when you fail to conceive after having sex once a month on day 14.
• Infertility is not a woman's problem.
• Infertility is not all in your head.
• Infertility is not caused by stress alone.

I have said it before, and I will say it again: infertility can happen at any age. Do not allow your doctor to tell you "You're young, you have lots of time to worry about getting pregnant." Yes, I do know of several younger women that have had their doctor say this to them while refusing to schedule any initial testing or exams.

Understanding what infertility is and what it is not, will help you, your partner, and your doctor seek the appropriate tests, treatments, and therapies at the appropriate times. You will not need to know as much about infertility, it's causes and treatments, as your doctor does, but the more you know and understand, the better patient you will be.

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