The anguish of infertility can be heartbreaking for a couple. There is another side of this problem that’s getting worse. It’s known as secondary infertility. More couples are finding their dreams of having a second child are not coming true.
Tag: secondary infertility
Secondary Infertility: I Have One Child. Why Can’t I Get Pregnant Again?
Rates of secondary infertility are difficult to pin down, because couples often feel guilty seeking treatment when they already have a child, or they are told that their previous fertility proves that nothing is wrong.
Women’s Knowledge on Infertility: Interview with Barbara Collura
In the United States, 7.3 million people are affected by infertility, in which a couple cannot conceive, according to RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.
There are two categories of infertility. They are primary infertility and secondary infertility. With primary infertility, pregnancy has not occurred after at least a year of intercourse. With secondary infertility, couples have been able to get pregnant at least once, but have not been able to get pregnant again.
This year at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine Annual Meeting (ASRM), the results of the In the Know: Fertility IQ 2012 survey were presented. The survey, which included more than 400 health care providers, found significant difference between what health care providers are reporting and what patients are reporting. Read entire article.
Secondary Infertility: An Unexpected Diagnosis
For a woman who has already conceived and given birth to a child, or even several children, the diagnosis of secondary infertility can be a bewildering and disorienting experience. According to the Centers for Disease Control, infertility affects approximately 5.3 million Americans; one out of ten married couples are facing some form of infertility issue, whether it’s the quest for their first child or adding additional children to their family.
For Leigh Kenyon (not her real name), disbelief colored her inability to conceive following the birth of her first child. “When my daughter was two, I miscarried my second pregnancy in the first trimester. When we tried again, I simply couldn’t get pregnant.”
As Leigh and many others have discovered, because it’s called “secondary,” (which means you’ve conceived in the past regardless if the outcome was a live birth, still birth, abortion or loss of pregnancy to miscarriage), your anxiety may not be taken seriously. The “proof” of her previous fertility kept Leigh from following up on her concerns as she struggled to make sense of the disparity between what her body was telling her and the reassurance offered by others. “I worried that something was wrong, but friends, family and even my OB kept telling me to relax, not to be in such a rush since I was obviously able to get pregnant. Even I assumed I must be able to conceive since I had done so twice before.”