Female Infertility – What Are the Facts and What Are the Myths?

If you’re a woman and you’re experiencing some reproductive difficulty, or if you’ve been diagnosed as infertile by your obstetrician or gynecologist, you need to know what the facts are versus the myths when it comes to what causes female infertility.

It will help you if you know the facts instead of believing in half-truths or absolute misinformation. Once you have the real facts, you can decide what to do about them.

There are some very common myths as to the causes of female infertility. Let’s dispel them here.

Your infertility is “all in your head”

This myth is a common one, in part because it is true that couples often have dealt with infertility and then eventually have become pregnant on their own. Some have said that this is because many reproductive problems are stress related or that a couple is overly focused on becoming pregnant. It’s true that stress and other things can contribute to female infertility, but it’s certainly not the only cause, and is not the most common one.

Advances in modern medicine over the past several decades have been able to pinpoint and often treat both male infertility and female infertility. Indeed, modern medicine can find and treat even the most minute of causes that even a few years ago could not be determined. However, the “it’s all in your head” myth continues to persist in that it’s often thought that failure to become pregnant is a mental hurdle to overcome rather than a physical one, for the most part. Nonetheless, physical causes for either the man or woman are the most common reason for not becoming pregnant.

Miscarriage causes female infertility

First of all, you must remember that most miscarriages are not the fault of the woman whatsoever. Most miscarriages in fact are not caused by overwork or any other “controllable” stress or strain. In fact, most doctors see miscarriage as a symptom, not the problem itself. Such things as environmental toxins, radiation, hormonal problems, abnormalities of the uterus, for example, cause many miscarriages, as does something called an “incompetent” cervix, or other pre-existing medical conditions. Still other miscarriages have no cause that can be found if the miscarriage happens very early in pregnancy, but it is simply assumed that there is some sort of fetal abnormality that made it impossible for the fetus to survive. In short, miscarriage itself is not a symptom of infertility, since “infertile” means the woman cannot become pregnant at all. With miscarriage, the woman has no difficulty becoming pregnant, but if miscarriage is common problem, it is a symptom of some other difficulty.

If you’ve already had at least one child by “natural” means, you’re not infertile

Indeed, parents who have had at least one child can become infertile thereafter. This is called “secondary infertility.” In some cases, female infertility difficulties don’t manifest until after the birth of a least one child.

If you’re a woman who has difficulty with any of these issues, you should address them directly with your doctor and only your doctor. If you feel you’re not getting straight information, get a second opinion and/or consult a specialist. However, simply relying on myth alone is not going to solve your problems for you and will only help ensure that they continue.