Infertility is defined as not being able to become pregnant after having regular intercourse (sex) without birth control after one year (or after six months if a woman is 35 years or older).
Fertility means being able to become pregnant (conceive), and it involves many steps, which must work just right for a woman to become pregnant. About 90 out of 100 couples will be able to get pregnant within 12 months of trying.
More about infertility:
- Infertility is common. Out of 100 couples in the United States, about 12 to 13 of them have trouble becoming pregnant.
- About ten in 100 (6.1 million) women in the United States ages 15–44 have difficulty becoming pregnant or staying pregnant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- About one-third of infertility cases are caused by fertility problems in women, and another one-third of fertility problems are due to fertility problems in men. The other cases are caused by a mixture of male and female problems or by problems that cannot be determined.
- Primary infertility is infertility in a woman who has never had a pregnancy.
- Secondary infertility is infertility in a woman who has had one or more pregnancies, but cannot become pregnant again.