About Fertility

There are 2 types of infertility.

They are:

1, Primary infertility - if you have never been pregnant and you're struggling to get pregnant

2, Secondary infertility - if you have had 1 or more pregnancies in the past (including miscarriages) but you're now struggling to get pregnant

Many things can affect your fertility, including age and health conditions.
You can get treatment for most causes of fertility problems.

Many things can cause fertility problems in women, including the following:

• Ovulation problems – irregular periods or no periods at all
• Endometriosis
• Blocked Fallopian Tubes etc
• Scarring from Cervical Surgery
• Pelvic infections.
• Health conditions that may affect your fertility include:

• • Cancer
  • Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease
  • Severe rheumatoid arthritis
  • Cystic fibrosis

The most common cause of fertility problems in men is problems with sperm.

Sperm may:

• be low in number
• not be in your semen at all
• not be as good at swimming or moving as they should be
• have an unusual shape that makes it harder for them to move or get inside the egg

There are many things that can cause problems with your sperm count or quality including

• previous cancer treatment
• smoking
• alcohol
• drug use, including performance enhancing steroids
• current or past sexually transmitted infections (STIs), such as gonorrhoea and chlamydia
• testicles that did not "drop" properly as a baby
• issues with your testicles because of surgery, enlarged veins (varicocele) or tumours
• medical conditions such as a thyroid problem or poorly controlled diabetes
• hormonal problem such as hypogonadism - where you make little or no testosterone
• genetic problems such as Klinefelter syndrome
• your testicles overheating

Health conditions that may also affect your fertility if you're a man include:
Cancer, thyroid problems, poorly controlled diabetes, cystic fibrosis, spina bifida etc

• Age
  Getting older affects your fertility. This strongly affects women. For women, your fertility starts to reduce from your 30s. As you get older, the number and quality of your eggs reduce.
  For men, your fertility may start to reduce in your mid-40s. You may start to make less sperm, and your sperm quality may not be as good
• Weight
  Weight can affect your fertility. For women, being underweight or overweight may stop ovulation (production of eggs).
  For men, having obesity can affect the number and quality of your sperm
• smoking
  smoking can strongly affect your fertility. This includes in haling smoke from other people smoking (passive smoking).
• alcohol & drugs
   For women, if you are planning to get pregnant, it is safest to not drink alcohol at all. This will reduce the risks to you and your baby such as miscarriage. For men, drinking too much alcohol can affect the quality of your sperm.
  Using drugs can also affect your fertility. For example, in men, regular cannabis use can affect the quality of your sperm and how much sperm you have.
• environmental factors – Being around some pesticides, solvents, metals and high air temperatures may affect fertility, particularly in men.

Sometimes there’s no known cause of fertility problems (unexplained infertility).

You can still get fertility treatment if no cause is found for your fertility problems.

Go to your GP if you or your partner:

• are a woman aged 35 or under and have been trying to get pregnant for more than 1 year without success
• are a woman aged 36 or over and have been trying to get pregnant for more than 6 months without success
• know you have a health problem that can affect fertility
• had previous fertility treatment
• are taking medicine that may affect your fertility or pregnancy
• need donor sperm or eggs to have a baby

If you need more information on fertility, please see below a link to the HSE Fertility treatment website.

Fertility treatment - HSE.ie

If you need more information on fertility, please see below a link to the HSE Fertility treatment website: Fertility treatment - HSE.ie