Factors affecting fertility

If you’ve been trying to conceive for a while, troubleshooting your fertility can be a challenge. Sometimes, even when working with a fertility clinic, you can be left without answers. If you’ve been given a label of “unexplained infertility”, use this guide to determine next steps to help you investigate the factors affecting fertility.

You may choose to continue doing testing before going ahead with fertility treatments such as IUI or IVF. Sometimes, these additional factors can impact the success rate of assisted reproductive technologies.

Genetics

We tend to think of genetics as the information passed down from one generation to the next. While hereditary genetic factors can impact fertility (such as thrombophilia), there are other genetic factors at play. For instance, with age, the quality of both eggs and sperm declines. This often happens at the genetic level.

If that’s the case, you’re not necessarily doomed. Fertility acupuncture, supplements, and nutrition can all impact the quality of eggs and sperm.

Structural factors affecting fertility

Some structural factors can be detected in an ultrasound, such as a uterine septum or fibroids. But sometimes, structural issues can be a challenge to detect. For instance, endometriosis lesions and adenomyosis don’t always show up on ultrasounds. Fertility testing heavily focuses on female factors, but males can also have structural factors that affect fertility. For instance, a varicocele in the scrotum can affect sperm quality in ways that may not show up in standard sperm testing.

Depending on the structural issue, surgery may be indicated, or it may be something that acupuncture or visceral manipulation (done by an osteopath or massage therapist) can help.

Immune factors affecting fertility

This one is a bit more complicated. There are a lot of different aspects of immunity that can cause fertility challenges. Some of the more common ones I see are undetected infections, undiagnosed food sensitivities or allergies, and autoimmunity.

In some cases, people have trouble conceiving in the first place. However, immune factors can commonly lead to miscarriages and cases of recurrent pregnancy loss.

There are a variety of tests to be done to cover the full range of immune factors affecting fertility. I try to direct my acupuncture patients when it comes to requesting testing from their GP or their fertility doctor. Another option is to work with a naturopathic doctor who has a focus in fertility.

Hormonal imbalances

The list of hormonal imbalances that can affect fertility is lengthy. Some hormones can affect ovulation or sperm production, while others can affect implantation, and others yet can affect the ability to carry a pregnancy to term.

Hormone testing is usually done by blood, but there are other ways to test hormones, including saliva and urine. These alternatives are often done through a naturopathic doctor.

If you’d like to continue to stay informed about factors affecting fertility, join the fertility newsletter!