Infertility in Women

Many factors influence fertility. Women's problems account for about 35%. The woman's part in conception is to supply the eggs. She does not need to manufacture them—she has all she will ever need at birth. Every baby girl carries the seeds of her future family with her when she is born, in the form of thousands of eggs in her ovaries.

After puberty, a mature egg is released each month at ovulation. The egg then goes through the fallopian tubes to the uterus. If it is fertilized, it implants in the uterine wall; if not, it is discharged during menstruation.

Failure to ovulate is the most common cause of infertility in women. Irregularities in ovulation and menstruation increase with age, as does the chance that the tubes are blocked due to earlier pelvic surgery or disease. A woman's fertility is at its peak in her 20s. It slowly diminishes until she reaches 35 and drops rapidly for the rest of her child-bearing years.