What is secondary infertility?
Secondary infertility is a condition when pregnancy does not occur despite regular and unprotected intimate intercourse, although the woman was already pregnant years ago (that is, she gave birth to a child at least once).
Secondary infertility explains the diagnosis when the first time a woman became pregnant physiologically, naturally, and did not need a course of treatment for infertility.
The main sign of secondary infertility is that a woman already has one or more biological children.
For these types of clinical cases, drug treatment, in vitro fertilization or surgical intervention are recommended.
Secondary infertility is just as common as primary infertility; For example, 11% of couples in the US have this diagnosis.
If the patient is under 35 years of age, he has secondary infertility, when he did not get pregnant within 1 year despite regular intercourse, after one year. In women over 35 years old, the diagnosis of secondary infertility is fixed if pregnancy does not occur after 6 months.
The cause of infertility may be the organism of one or both partners, therefore, the couple should be diagnosed!
It should be noted that in some clinical cases the cause of secondary infertility is not a single factor and several causes are identified.
The most common reasons are:
- Weak sperm or egg;
- Age;
- Complications during previous pregnancy;
- Complications due to surgery;
- Increased body weight;
- Some medicines;
- Other health problem;
- Sexually transmitted infection;
- Lifestyle factors (alcohol, tobacco).
Risk factors for secondary infertility are:
- Pelvic inflammatory disease;
- Irregular menstruation;
- Sperm count is low;
- Hormonal imbalance;
- Stomach upset.
Source:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21139-secondary-infertility
