Female Infertility Causes and Risk Factors

According to the Association for the Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), four major lifestyle factors reduce a woman’s ability to conceive:

• Smoking
• Being significantly overweight or underweight
• STD’s
• Aging

Infertility may be congenital (present at birth) or develop later in life. Other factors that may cause infertility include:

• Poor ovarian reserve
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome
• Chemotherapy
• Hypothalamic dysfunction
• Anovulation
• Premature menopause
• Menopause
• Luteal dysfunction
• Turner syndrome (Gonadal dysgenesis)
• Ovarian cancer
• Pelvic adhesions
• Tubal occlusion
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Endometriosis
• Tubal dysfunction
• Antisperm antibodies
• Asherman's Syndrome
• Uterine fibroids (leiomyoma)
• Uterine malformations
• Cervical stenosis
• Vaginismus
• Vaginal obstruction
• Non-receptive cervical mucus