What is Secondary Infertility?

If you’ve gotten pregnant fairly easily with your first or second child, it may be surprising, confusing, and incredibly frustrating if you have difficulty conceiving another baby. If this feels familiar, you should know you’re not alone. 

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, secondary infertility, or being unable to carry a pregnancy to live birth after previously giving birth, affects millions of parents. But why is secondary infertility so common, and what can you do to make your dreams of another baby come true?

What Causes Secondary Infertility? 

A lot can change between the time of your last baby to the time you decide you want to add to your family, including: 

• Age: As women get older, conceiving a baby can become more challenging
• Medical complications: Problems from your last delivery or other health issues can result in scarring, pelvic infections, or adhesions that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring
• Lifestyle changes: You or your partner may have experienced other lifestyle changes that can decrease overall fertility, such as nutrition, weight, stress levels, drug use, etc. 
• Medications: You or your partner may have started taking medications that can have an impact on fertility

It’s important to note that secondary infertility isn’t only something that occurs in women. Some causes of male infertility include: 

• Testosterone treatment
• Varicocele (enlargement of veins in the scrotum that can cause low sperm production)
• Obstruction (ie. vasectomy) 

What Are the Signs of Secondary Infertility? 

If you and your partner are under the age of 35 and have been trying to conceive for 12 months without getting pregnant—or 6 months if you and your partner are older than 35—secondary infertility may be at play. If you have experienced painful periods, irregular menstrual cycles, pelvic inflammatory disease or miscarriages, this may increase your chances of experiencing secondary infertility. 

It’s also important to note that sometimes there simply aren’t signs of secondary infertility—and at times there isn’t a clear explanation as to why you and your partner are having trouble conceiving. No matter your situation, we know that having trouble conceiving can be an extremely emotional process. At Penn Fertility Care - Lancaster General Health, we will work together to address your fertility concerns, and create a plan to help you and your partner achieve your pregnancy goals.