Secondary infertility is when a couple is having trouble getting pregnant after successfully having a kid (or children) in the by. Many women who don't experience any issues getting pregnant with their first kid may find information technology more than hard to get meaning the second time around.

Reproductive Endocrinologists, Dr. Scott Morin and Dr. Jonathan Kort explain exactly why this happens and how to have a successful pregnancy if you are experiencing difficulties achieving pregnancy after your first kid.

What is Secondary Infertility?

A adult female's fertility declines with historic period, sometimes it can be harder to go significant with a second kid than information technology was with the first. When a woman has trouble getting significant on her own subsequently a previously successful natural conception and nativity, fertility doctors refer to this equally secondary infertility. Secondary fertility can often be treated with fertility treatment.

What is the difference between Chief Infertility and Secondary Infertility?

Principal infertility is more usually referred to as simply, infertility. Primary infertility is diagnosed when a couple fails to become pregnant after 6-12 months of trying. Secondary infertility is when a couple fails to become meaning after successfully giving nascency in the past.

The causes of master and secondary infertility are virtually identical, just the emotional bear on can be very different from each other. Fortunately, fertility treatments for primary and secondary infertility are the same and both have loftier success rates.

How common is secondary infertility?

Secondary infertility is every bit common as chief infertility. Infertility affects one in 8 couples trying to conceive or about 12.5 per centum.

Out of all infertility causes, secondary infertility makes up about 50 percent of all cases.

Causes of Secondary Infertility

Secondary infertility tin exist caused past issues with the female or male partner.

  • Near 33% of all infertility cases stem from bug with the female partner.
  • Another 33% of cases stalk from the male person partner.
  • The remaining 33% are a combination of issues from both the male and female partner

Causes of secondary infertility in women

  • Egg quality or quantity: A adult female is born with all the eggs she'll ever have, and that supply slowly decreases equally she releases eggs every calendar month during her menstrual bike. And then as a woman ages, she has fewer eggs, and fewer adept quality eggs – both factors that reduce her chances of getting pregnant naturally.More often than not, a woman is most fertile in her mid-to-late-20s, after which point her fertility begins to pass up slowly until age 35 when the decline accelerates. That said, every woman is different, and that decline tin can brainstorm earlier or later. Because fertility declines with age, information technology's possible – and even common – for women who had no trouble getting meaning with their first child to struggle to conceive the 2d fourth dimension effectually, when they are older and less fertile.
  • Damaged or blocked fallopian tubes: Issues with the fallopian tubes can hinder the egg from traveling to the ovaries successfully.
  • Issues with the uterus: Scaring from a C-section or fibroids may also cause infertility.
  • Endometriosis: Endometriosis is a very mutual cause of infertility. It is a condition where tissue that typically grows inside the uterus grows in places similar the ovaries.
  • Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): A hormonal disorder that causes women to take infrequent or prolonged periods. PCOS patients may likewise have excess androgen levels (male person hormones). Patients with PCOS frequently develop pocket-size collections of fluid around their ovaries which inhibit eggs from releasing.
  • Lifestyle: An increase in BMI and/or sure medications may also atomic number 82 to ovary dysfunction and touch on your fertility.

Causes of secondary infertility in men

Male person infertility is mainly caused by issues with their sperm, hormonal imbalances, or problems related to their reproductive anatomy.

  • Low sperm count: Depression testosterone levels, a blocked duct, and even certain medications tin cause low sperm count.
  • Sperm abnormalities: Sperm may be abnormal in shape or may non be able to swim to the egg well enough for fertilization to occur.
  • Azoospermia: Azoospermia is when a human has no viable sperm. This means that his body produces aberrant sperm.
  • Varicocele: Think of a varicocele as a varicose vein in the scrotum. This may heighten the temperature in the testes to college-than-normal levels which tin can change sperm production.
  • Anti-sperm antibodies: Some men and women have anti-sperm antibodies that make it hard for them to achieve a pregnancy.

Can a C-Department crusade secondary infertility?

Roughly 20% of women who gave birth via cesarean section reported difficulties getting pregnant with a second kid.

A C-section causes scarring and sometimes this scarring can crusade inflammation or obstructions that can make becoming pregnant more difficult.

Scar tissue can as well grow and form large masses and cause endometriosis.

Secondary Infertility, Dr. Lange | RMA of Philadelphia, Fertility Dispensary

When should I meet a physician for secondary fertility?

The guidelines on when you should encounter a fertility doc for secondary infertility are exactly the same as for any woman trying to get pregnant.

You should seek the assistance of a reproductive endocrinologist if y'all are under 35 years sometime and trying to conceive for 12 months.

It is recommended that you seek aid subsequently only half-dozen months of trying if you are 35 years old or older.

Can you go pregnant with secondary infertility?

The short answer is yes, you lot can get significant with secondary infertility, but you may need to seek out the aid of a fertility medico, and hither's why.

While women over the age of 35 still have eggs left, it becomes more than difficult to get meaning considering the eggs are of lower quality.

Inquiry performed by doctors at RMA showed that a adult female's age impacts the viability of the embryos created from her eggs.

Namely, the older a woman, the more than probable it is that her eggs have a chromosomal error which volition, in plough, result in embryos being aneuploid, or chromosomally abnormal.

For example, in her mid-to-late 20s, the rate of aneuploidy in a woman's eggs is a little more than than 20 percent, rises to the mid-30s by age 35, is nearly 50 percent by historic period forty, and is nearly 90 percent by age 42 and 43.

This means that while about xx percent of the embryos a woman creates may be aberrant in her late 20s, almost xc percent could exist aberrant by her early 40s. That is a meaning change in a footling over a decade.

What does aneuploidy accept to do with a successful pregnancy?

A lot. The opposite of aneuploid is euploid, which means an embryo is chromosomally normal, or that information technology has the normal corporeality of chromosomes and has a good chance of implanting inside the uterus and leading to a successful pregnancy.

Aneuploid embryos, on the other paw, accept too few or too many chromosomes, and frequently fail to implant within the uterus.

In the run a risk they do implant, they often lead to miscarriage or an affected child.

So the older the woman, the higher her chances of producing aneuploid embryos that fail to implant, leading to infertility.

Aneuploidy embryo chart

How can I tell if I have secondary infertility?

If you were able to become meaning naturally and gave birth without consequence in the past but are having problem conceiving on your own for the second or tertiary time, y'all may have secondary infertility.

Notwithstanding, information technology is as well possible that there is some other cause for your infertility, and doing the necessary fertility testing will help you determine the cause and then you tin can movement forward with the appropriate treatment.

All patients at RMA undergo diagnostic testing to get a complete picture of their fertility before moving onto treatment; this includes fertility bloodwork to larn more about a patient's egg count, which tin help decide whether or not she is experiencing secondary infertility.

What type of treatment is available for women with secondary infertility?

Secondary infertility is treatable, and many women diagnosed with it get on to have successful subsequent pregnancies.

There are various handling options based on the adult female's specific fertility profile, including Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), where sperm is inserted into a woman'due south uterus at the time of ovulation.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is some other selection, where sperm and egg are fertilized exterior the woman's trunk and a resulting embryo is transferred back into the woman's uterus in hopes of implantation.

IVF infographic

No matter which handling path you pursue, you lot should have hope that we are here for you and you can overcome secondary infertility with just a petty bit of help.

Is IVF more successful in secondary fertility?

IVF is not necessarily more successful for patients with secondary infertility, but it is often the only or well-nigh successful fertility treatment option.

Secondary Infertility Support Groups

Struggling with infertility tin exist very hard to deal with solitary. It is important to know that in that location are support groups out there dedicated specifically to men and women dealing with infertility. Resolve: The National Infertility Association offers support groups all across the U.s.. Utilize their helpful Infertility Back up Group Finder to find a coming together closest to yous.