What is infertility? for high school students.

1. INFERTILITY
For High School Students
by: Julie Filewicz

2. What is infertility?
■ Defined as the inability to conceive after having regular unprotected sex.
■ Can also refer to the biological inability of an individual to contribute to conception
■ Can also refer to a female that is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term.
■ Usually occurs after a failed 12 months of trying to conceive.

3. Does infertility only occur with women?
■ When infertility occurs it is possible that the male partner is evaluated for infertility or
subfertility (reduced fertility)
– - they can test a variety of clinical interventions and even evaluation of semen.

4. Is infertility a disease?
-infertility develops as a disability which is defined as an impairment of function.
- Infertility is recognized as a disease which causes an impairment of function that can
occur in a male or female.

5. Who does infertility affect?
■ Infertility affects 10% of the United States population.
■ Infertility can affect people of any socioeconomic level, sex, races, ethnic, and religious
lines.
■ You might even know a friend, relative, or neighbor who has been affected by this.

6. When to contact a doctor?
■ If one is under the age of 35 and has been trying to conceive for over 12 months they
should seek a specialist.
■ If one has is over the age of 35 they should see a specialist after 6 months of trying to
conceive.

7. Infertility Symptoms in women
■ Abnormal or irregular periods.
■ No periods
■ Skin changes- dryness or acne.
■ Changes in sex drive or desire
■ Dark hair growth on lips, chest or chin.
■ Weight gain
■ Loss or thinning of the hair
■ Pain during sex
■ Milky white discharge on breasts when not breastfeeding.

8. Infertility symptoms with men
-Many times might go unnoticed until a man tries to have a baby.
■ Changes in hair growth
■ Changes in sexual desire.
■ Problems with ejaculation and erection.
■ pain, or lumps in the testicles.

9. Treatment
■ Treatments are based on what is causing one to not get pregnant and the
treatments may vary;
■ if one has problems with ovulating that might be prescribed medications such
as
■ -clomiphene: stimulate ovaries to release eggs.
■ -metformin: used to treat polycystic ovarian syndrome
■ If the reasons are unknown doctors might try hormones or insemination.
■ Surgery might also be an option for some. Such as women who have blocked
fallopian tubes.

10. What causes an increased risk?
– These factors contribute to an increased risk of infertility In both men and women
■ Age
■ Smoking
■ Excess alcohol use
■ Drugs
■ Poor diet
■ Environmental toxins
■ STI’s (sexually transmitted infections)
■ Health problem that cause hormonal changes

11. Other options:
■ Sometimes if medicine and insemination does not work doctors might perform ART.
■ ART is Assisted reproductive technology.This is when the egg is removed from a
women's body and then the eggs are mixed with sperm to make embryos.The
embryos are placed back inside the women’s body.
■ Surrogacy is also another option for mothers who are infertile.
-this is when a women no longer has healthy eggs so injects the sperm into
another women to carry the child until birth when it is handed back to the mother.

12. Works Cited
■ EPublications. (n.d.)., from https://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-
publications/fact-sheet/infertility.html
■ Infertility Symptoms in Men andWomen. (n.d.)., 2016, from
http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/guide/understanding-infertility-
symptoms?page=2
■ {, B. (n.d.).What is Infertility?, from http://www.resolve.org/about-infertility/what-is-
infertility