The Fertility Gods Must be Working Overtime

Is the mystery of why so many people are having fertility problems not an issue of science but of sociology? These days a college degree is not enough, people are going back for master’s degrees and doctorates. For most people this is pushing back the other major life changes- marriage, buying homes, and having children. The ideal situation for having children is when financial stability is achieved. It is hard to achieve when people have multiple, expensive student loans to pay off on top of their normal bills. But is that the only cause for increased problems with fertility- the age of the potential parents or is there something else going on with fertility these days? The latest statistics from the American Pregnancy Association state that one in six couples have fertility issues. This means even with close friends it can be a tough subject to bring up- the question ‘When are you going to have kids?’ is no longer appropriate because you never know about their fertility status. This seems drastic to be compensated by merely the idea that people are putting off pregnancy until later in life.

 The other likely cohorts to this problem are environmental factors and the broad category of health. Health includes disease history and prescription medicines- the most obvious potential conflict is birth control for women. Weight is also included in the health category-according to the CDC, as of 2011, a third of Americans are obese-this could definitely be a contributing factor. The other side to the weight issue is underweight, as this can also contribute to pregnancy difficulties. Also there is alcohol intake, caffeine consumption, and smoking to consider as well. Disease-wise, cancer and thyroid conditions are on the rise. People undergoing radiation and/or chemotherapy are advised of their potential infertility after the process. Sperm-banking is a much more reasonable option when this treatment involves a man. For the fairer sex, extraction and cryopreservation of their eggs is a much more involved process. Thyroid dysfunction/disease seems a likely contributor to this overall fertility puzzle as there does seem to be a rise in it in the past few years. Both hyper- or hypothyroidism in females can prove problematic for getting and staying pregnant.

I’ve always been curious about the link between birth control-specifically oral contraceptives (OCs) for women- and the recent increase in fertility problems. My theory was always that there must be a connection even if the data doesn’t yet support this idea. However an article published in 2007 by Judith Reichman shows the contrary. A European study mentioned in this article showed that females who have been on birth control for short term and longer, long term being denoted as more than 24 months, had the same pregnancy rates as women who never used OCs. Women go on birth control for one of two reasons (or in some case both). The first and obvious reason is the woman does not wish to get pregnant, but the other reason is because the woman has difficult periods. Difficult being unbearable cramps or irregular timing/consistency of the actual period. This writer of the mentioned article brings up a clever point as to why this theory of increased fertility problems is linked to OCs. Females that go on OCs for problem periods, most likely have underlying ovulation problems, which will unfortunately fully illustrate themselves when the woman is attempting to get pregnant. This may confuse the issue that being on an OC leads to problems with fertility, while in reality the problem not only existed before taking the medicine, but was the reason why taking the medicine was suggested. An interesting study to conduct based on this idea, would be to have two pools of women representing the two reasons why they went on an OC. Then the study would follow these women after they go off the pill and attempt to get pregnant. A study of this design would document pregnancy rates of women who went on birth control as a means of birth control, and compared the rates to women who went on the pill to ease and/or regulate their troublesome periods. Then both of these groups would be compared to pregnancy rates in women who were never on the pill.

In summary it seems all a person needs to do to ensure fertility success, is not be overweight or underweight, don’t drink or smoke, and try not to get cancer and/or an thyroid condition or be exposed to any environmental factors or disease treatments that may affect reproductive organs. Also people should have children when they are in their early twenties and are the most financially instable. Easy enough right? Sarcasm aside, all of these factors are the collective answer to the increase in fertility problems seen in couples and individuals in the recent years. Many of these factors are two-fold, lifestyle factors such as weight and alcohol consumption can negatively affect both the female and male. The silver lining is at least some of these factors can be minimized, particularly the lifestyle ones previously mentioned. I guess that means I should put this Diet Coke down and go for a run.