Fertility is a person’s ability to start or maintain a pregnancy. Infertility is not being able to start or maintain a pregnancy. For a woman, it means that she either can’t become pregnant or that she can’t carry a baby full-term. For a man, it means that he cannot father a child. In medicine, it is defined for couples as being unable to conceive a child after one year of trying to get pregnant.
Men are infertile if:
- Their testicles do not make sperm.
- The pathways that carry sperm are blocked or cut off.
Women are infertile if:
- Their ovaries do not make mature eggs.
- Damage to the reproductive system keeps eggs from being fertilized.
- A fertilized egg cannot implant and grow inside the uterus.
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