Risa and Eli, a couple married for two years and in their twenties, were anxious to start a family, but found themselves unable to conceive. *Chana, engaged at 39, was worried that at her age it would be difficult to get pregnant. *Miriam, a widow, had three children from her first marriage. Ten years after her husband passed away, she remarried. She was now 37 and her new husband, *Avi was 40. They wanted a child of their own, but close to a year into their marriage, she had not become pregnant – what to do?
Reproduction research done by the National Infertility Association shows that 7.3 million people in the United States, representing 12% of women of childbearing age, are affected by this problem. Infertility is defined, for women under the age of 35, as an inability to conceive after one year of trying to have a child. When a woman passes the age of 35, if she is trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for six months, she should seek help. Besides having difficulty in conceiving, part of the problem for women of this age may also include the inability to carry a pregnancy to live birth. It also may not be her fault. Statistically, the causes for infertility are attributed equally to the female partner, the male partner, or a combination of both partners, or they may be unexplained. Read full article.
