For many women, having children comes with very few obstacles. A couple months of trying to conceive and 9 months later they’re taking a little bundle of joy home from the hospital. However, as you find yourself trying for a second child; it’s not as easy. The logical and common question is: “why can’t I get pregnant since I already had a child?” There are numerous factors that may contribute to difficulty becoming pregnant a second time.
Why?
Sometimes, there may have been an underlying fertility problem from the very beginning, even before you had your first child. It is a possibility that the first time you became pregnant, you beat the odds and were very lucky. Underlying conditions like a low ovarian reserve, endometriosis, PCOS, and others are very common. Having any one of these conditions would make achieving a pregnancy the second time a lot more difficult.
It may be a simple fact that you are now a few years older. A women’s age is greatly correlated with fertility and is one of the most common reasons for fertility difficulty. Unlike men who constantly create new sperm, a woman is born with a finite number of eggs. As a woman ages, she exponentially loses eggs. In addition, the older eggs tend to make more chromosomally abnormal embryos which fail to implant or cause a miscarriage. Aging does not only affect women. As males age, problems like erectile dysfunction, loss of libido, and diminishing sperm function become more prominent as well.
There are many other possible etiologies for failing to conceive that can be quickly and efficiently evaluated. These include tubal blockage or damage, intrauterine abnormalities, ovulation difficulty, and other hormonal abnormalities.
Fifteen percent of infertility cases fall into the “unexplained” category. Unexplained fertility is defined as the failure to determine the cause of infertility after a thorough evaluation of both the female and male partners. Not knowing the cause can be very frustrating. However, many patients are able to achieve a pregnancy with appropriate evaluation and treatment.
Unlike women who are having difficulties becoming pregnant with their first child and tend to seek infertility treatment fairly quickly, women who have had a child already are sometimes more reluctant to seek treatment right away. Usually, a few diagnostic tests with an infertility specialist can reveal the underlying problems and appropriate treatment can facilitate pregnancy.
It is recommended that anyone regularly trying to conceive for more then 6 months, should seek out an evaluation by a reproductive specialist.
Here at the Fertility Institute of Hawaii, we encourage patients to ask their doctors about infertility treatment as soon as possible. The first step is to come in for a consultation. Screening and diagnostic testing can typically be done within two visits with us. We offer the latest technology and treatments that infertility medicine has to offer today. For more information, please visit www.ivfcenterhawaii.com.