If you and your husband have decided "We want children", but you fail to conceive for six months, a year or longer, the causes of infertility can be different. They are often associated with the disturbances in functioning or development of sexual organs of a woman (ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus). It makes sense to see a doctor for the first time even after 3 months of unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant.
Also, quite often the reasons for the unsuccessful conception are rooted in the men's health.
Why does not pregnancy occur?
If you're reading this article, then probably you have already thought about visiting a doctor with a question: "What should I do? I want to get pregnant, but conception fails for more than 3 months". In order to find out why you are having trouble getting pregnant, it is helpful to understand the process of conception.In the beginning of the cycle an egg cell starts to grow and develop on one of the ovaries. Approximately in the middle of the cycle (on the 14th day after the beginning of menstrual bleeding) ovulation occurs - the egg is released from the ovary. In the fallopian tube it meets with a sperm cell, without which the process of conception is impossible. The fertilized egg - a zygote - moves further along the fallopian tubes into the uterine cavity. In the uterus it is "implanted" under the inner layer - endometrium.
Now that you understand the mechanism of conception, you can search for the causes of infertility. You should do it not on your own, but with the help of a qualified specialist. He will prescribe medications, which are suitable particularly for you.
How to get pregnant, if your attempts are unsuccessful?
Many couples want to know how to get pregnant, if all their attempts are unsuccessful. Even if a woman is not using any contraception, and the sexual intercourse has happened approximately in the middle of the cycle, it does not mean that the pregnancy will already occur in the first month. If the process of conception does not occur during a year, then you should see a specialist and undergo several analyses. A doctor can determine the reason of infertility after the examination of the reproductive system organs.
1. Ovaries
In case if you are one of the women, who come to a doctor with a complaint "I want to get pregnant, but conception doesn't occur for six months (a year or even several years)", the reason is most likely to consist in the ovarian malfunction. The first sign of problems with the ovaries is irregular menstrual cycle.
It can be caused by hormonal imbalance, polycystosis, which lead to a lack of ovulation. And the absence of ovulation means that there is no egg, and, accordingly, no pregnancy. If in this year you have cured, for example, a polycystosis, which can also be a cause of infertility, you need to get tested for the level of hormones and to undergo treatment. The majority of doctors recommend to adjust functioning of the ovaries for at least 6 months, and even more preferably - for 12. Try to plan pregnancy for the following year.
In healthy women with normal cycle ovulation does not occur in each cycle. With 12 cycles per year, it may be missing 2-3 times. Thus, in normal women, ovulation occurs not 12, but 9-10 times. If you are trying to get pregnant for the second cycle and there is no positive result, perhaps, you just had cycles without ovulation.
If a woman has stopped taking oral contraceptives, and within 3 months she can't get pregnant, it may be caused by incomplete recovery of gonadal functions. Try again in the next cycle.
How to get pregnant, if you can't, and the ovulation does not occur? A doctor may prescribe drugs to stimulate egg maturation.
2. Uterine (fallopian) tubes
If you have a normal and regular cycle, but you still can't get pregnant for half a year, the infertility may be caused by obstruction of the fallopian tubes.
If you cannot conceive the second child, the problem often consists in the fact that at the first childbirth there was performed a cesarean section. After surgeries (including cesarean section) the probability of occurrence of adhesions significantly increases. Therefore, if you are having problems with getting pregnant for the second time, it is often caused by the formation of adhesions in the fallopian tubes, which block the path of the egg into the uterus. Adhesive process cannot be determined by analyses. The problems with having the second child, determined by the presence of adhesions, can also appear due to inflammation of the pelvic organs (ovaries, tubes, uterus, bladder).
Poor tubal patency may be also due to their irregular shape. In this case, an egg cell may be fertilized, but does not reach the destination - the uterus. It begins to grow right in a tube - an ectopic pregnancy is developing. Thus, a test strip will indicate pregnancy. If you have found out that conception was successful, visit a hospital within 7 days in order to make sure that nothing has prevented the normal conception, and the zygote has got into the uterus.
3. Uterus
If nothing is wrong with the ovaries and fallopian tubes, but you still can't get pregnant for a year, another possible reason - diseases of the uterus. In order for the fertilized egg to "establish" in the uterus there is required a sufficient thickness of the endometrium (the inner layer) and the absence of foreign growths (such as polyps or myomatous nodes). If you are interested in how to get pregnant, but your attempts are unsuccessful because of too thin endometrium, a doctor will prescribe drugs with estrogen. This hormone improves blood supply of the uterus and allows to build the missing thickness. Because of this, it is easier for the embryo to settle down in the uterus. In the presence of myomatous nodes, treatment is prescribed depending on their location and size.
If you are performing a pregnancy test within one or two days after sexual intercourse, the result may be false negative. This happens due to the fact that the "journey" of the fertilized egg to the uterus lasts for 3-4 days. Wait a few days and repeat the test one more time.
What can be figured out with the use of analyses
If you can't get pregnant due to the problems in the functioning of the reproductive system organs, the analyses and examinations may indicate the presence of the following diseases:
• inflammation (ovaries, tubes, uterus);
• cysts on the ovaries (polycystosis);
• endometriosis;
• polyps in the uterine cavity or myomatous nodes;
• irregularities in the functioning of pituitary gland or hypothalamus;
• infectious diseases of the reproductive system.
If you have used an oral contraception, and after its cancellation you can't get pregnant for 6 months or more, you should get tested for infections. In most cases, they become the reason of that a couple cannot have a child.
Besides the main reasons for which conception doesn't occur for a year or more, infertility can be due to:
• genetic factors (Down's syndrome, Klinefelter's syndrome, and others);
• immunological factors.
Sometimes it does happen that the mother's and the father's bodies have been fully examined, and no abnormalities have been determined, but conception doesn't occur. In such cases there is established the diagnosis of "unexplained infertility". This happens in about 25% of all cases.
