The time has come. You’re ready to expand your family and have a baby. But the problem is you’ve been having regular sex, and month after month, the pregnancy test keeps coming out negative. Even though you track your ovulation and have been following a healthy lifestyle, you still haven’t gotten pregnant.
By this time, the question of infertility has crossed your mind. If that is the case, don’t worry because you are not alone. In fact, in the United States, 10% to 15% of couples are infertile, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“The chance of getting pregnant, even for a young healthy couple, is not more than 20 percent, or one in five, every month,” Dr. Alan Copperman, M.D., director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York, told The New York Times.
To help you know if it’s infertility or something else, we'll cover the symptoms, what you can do, and different infertility treatments.
What are the symptoms of infertility?
What are different ways to treat infertility?
While there is no cure for infertility, there are different ways to treat infertility through medical intervention as well as holistic options.
Medical intervention treatments
Different treatments like intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) may be recommended to assist you with getting pregnant.
Natural ways to improve your fertility
Both male and female partners are encouraged to clean up their diet and avoid things like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Getting in regular exercise is also recommended as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Male partners can take medicinal herbs like fenugreek or ashwagandha to potentially increase fertility health as well as overall health.
“When your body doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, it is very frustrating,” DiBenedetto said. But in the end, “it worked out as it feels like it should have.”
