| There's lots of problems a couple can experience | | | | menopause. Age-related fertility problems are |
| when trying to get pregnant. That's why modern | | | | common today, as more women are starting their |
| medicine is developing new and exciting methods of | | | | families later in life. |
| fertility treatments like IVF and other assisted | | | | People often assume that fertility treatment will |
| reproduction techniques. | | | | overcome age-related fertility problems, but the |
| A hydrosalpinx is the medical term for a fluid-filled | | | | chances of success using assisted reproduction are |
| blockage in the fallopian tubes. This can happen when | | | | directly related to your age in just the same way |
| one of the tubes gets completely blocked as a result | | | | that they are with natural conception. Although IVF |
| of infection or scarring, and fills up with fluid. Some | | | | success rates have risen over the years, the rates |
| women who have a hydrosalpinx find it extremely | | | | for women over 40 have remained low. |
| painful, whereas others have no symptoms at all. | | | | Secondary infertility occurs when women who have |
| In some cases, both tubes get blocked at the same | | | | already had one child, or even two children, without |
| time and this is referred to as bilateralhydrosalpinges. | | | | any problems encounter them when trying to get |
| If you have a hydrosalpinx, doctors often advise | | | | pregnant again. Things can change in your body with |
| removing the tube entirely before having IVF, as it is | | | | time, and with age, and a fertility problem that you |
| thought to affect the chances of an embryo | | | | were able to overcome in your early thirties may not |
| implanting and increase the risk of miscarriage. | | | | be so easy to conquer when combined with your |
| Physical problems with the womb or ovaries can | | | | decreasing fertility in your early forties. |
| make it difficult to conceive. Sometimes the outer | | | | Couples sometimes delay seeking medical help if |
| surface of the ovaries may be scarred and this can | | | | they've already had a child, assuming that nothing |
| affect ovulation. The womb can be unusually shaped, | | | | could be wrong, but having had one child is not a |
| or scarred, which may lead to fertility problems. | | | | guarantee that you will be able to have another. |
| Age is a crucial factor in female fertility, as the | | | | Unexplained infertility is surprisingly common, and |
| biological clock limits our ability to conceive. Women | | | | many couples will never discover why they're having |
| start to become less fertile when they are in their | | | | problems conceiving. All the tests may come back |
| thirties, and female fertility declines sharply once a | | | | suggesting there is absolutely nothing wrong, and |
| woman reaches her forties. Although some women | | | | although some unexplained infertility could be linked to |
| continue to have periods until they reach their early | | | | age, in most cases it is just that no cause has been |
| fifties, their fertility is compromised for some years | | | | found with the tests we now have available. |
| before their periods stop and they reach the | | | | |