{"id":75267,"date":"2020-01-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/2020\/01\/29\/secondary-infertility-what-you-need-to-know"},"modified":"2020-07-16T00:39:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T17:48:45","slug":"secondary-infertility-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fertilitysmarts.com\/secondary-infertility-what-you-need-to-know\/2\/2223","title":{"rendered":"Secondary Infertility: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

You probably either know of or are the couple that conceived easily with the first baby.<\/p>\n

You know, the woman who stopped birth control and was literally pregnant the next month. Maybe that’s why you find it hard to believe that this same couple can struggle for months and, maybe even years trying to get pregnant with their second child.<\/p>\n

While there has been increasing press attention surrounding infertility due to celebrities and public figures discussing their own challenges, there are still stigmas, shame and sadness surrounding the topic. And despite the increased attention to the topic of infertility, there are still not a lot of women who choose to discuss their inability to get pregnant with a second child.<\/p>\n

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Secondary infertility is as real as primary infertility and carries the same mental and physical burden for couples who hope to grow their families.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why don’t women want to share their struggles with secondary infertility? <\/strong><\/h2>\n

I think part of it has to do with feeling guilty or ashamed. Women who have one child and are struggling to conceive a second may feel like they should consider themselves lucky to have one child, especially when there are so many couples who struggle to conceive their first baby. But I want to echo what others have already said, you should not<\/em> feel guilty or ashamed for being sad, angry or frustrated about struggling to conceive additional children.<\/p>\n

Secondary infertility is as real as primary infertility and carries the same mental and physical burden for couples who hope to grow their families.<\/p>\n

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The diagnosis can be especially frustrating for a couple who previously had no trouble conceiving their first child.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What is secondary infertility, what are some causes and when is it time to see a fertility specialist?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Primary infertility<\/a> is defined as the inability to conceive a child after 12 months of appropriately timed intercourse. Secondary infertility<\/a> is the same definition except that it occurs in women who have successfully had a live birth in the past.<\/p>\n

The diagnosis can be especially frustrating for a couple who previously had no trouble conceiving their first child. But, as I like to say, infertility does not discriminate. It does not matter if you have had a previous child with no difficulty, if you are healthy or if you exercise daily. It does not care what your ethnicity, religion or socioeconomic background is—infertility can affect anyone.<\/p>\n

What are some causes of secondary infertility?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One important cause of secondary infertility is female age. We know that female age is the number one predictor that can impact a woman's chance of conceiving. As women, we are born with all of the eggs<\/a> we will ever have, approximately 1-2 million at birth.<\/p>\n

By the time we reach puberty we have approximately 300,000 eggs remaining in our ovaries and each month that number decreases as a new group of follicles (with a microscopic egg inside) are recruited for the next cycle. This continues monthly until we have no remaining eggs and we go through menopause.<\/p>\n

This means that we know that as woman age, the quantity of eggs remaining<\/a> will decrease, slowly at first starting around age 35 and then faster in your late 30s to early 40s. At the same time, the quality of the remaining eggs also starts to decline and this is why you see more miscarriages in women over the age of 40.<\/p>\n

So when a woman who became pregnant easily in her early to mid-30s carries a baby to term and then decides she wants another baby a couple of years later, the few years that have passed could have an impact on her chances of easily getting pregnant. Even though health-wise she may be in the exact same condition as before, her egg quality and quantity have likely already been impacted to some extent.<\/p>\n

Other cause of secondary infertility are similar to those of primary infertility and include:<\/p>\n