What causes infertility to happen in the first place? That is the million-dollar question, isn't it? When you consider that, even with a low sperm count, you can have millions of sperm coming into direct contact with a large egg (relatively speaking), it seems unlikely that conception could fail to happen month after month. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happens to millions of couples in the United States alone. (See New Fertility Statistics.)

Hormones

The reproductive process really is more complicated than it initially appears. Women produce a series of hormones every month to facilitate ovulation. See Female Reproductive Hormones for Conception for an explanation of each hormone and its purpose. If just one of these hormones is not working correctly, a woman can become infertile.

Men produce a series of hormones as well to facilitate sperm production. See Male Reproductive Hormones for Conception for an explanation of the male side. Again, any imbalances can affect the sperm count, motility, or form.

External Factors

Many external factors can affect your ability to procreate. Anything from smoking to toxins to hot tubs can be the culprit. See External Impacts on Fertility for a list of articles about a variety of external factors affecting fertility.

Male Factor

Fertility problems on the male side are often caused by varicoceles or some sort of blockage or obstruction. See Male Factors for more on this topic.

Female Factor

Fertility problems on the female side can be caused by a number of factors, two of the most common being endometriosis and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

Other Factors

There are still other factors that have been blamed for causing infertility. These factors run the gamut from age to having a history of child abuse to being a control freak. To read articles on these and other topics, see Causes of Infertility.

Unexplained Infertility

For some unlucky couples, there is no explanation whatsoever. They "pass" every test, and nothing is found to explain why the couple is unable to conceive a child. This can be particularly frustrating because you cannot "fix" what is not "broken." A friend of mine struggled with unexplained infertility, and she longed for any diagnosis to explain why she was having such a hard time conceiving.

Bottom line - Infertility is a medical condition, and there is a real reason why conception is not happening. Even in the case of unexplained infertility, there is still a reason: Medical science just does not know what it is yet. So, when well-meaning family and friends start telling you to "just relax" and offering all of their other fertility myths to help you conceive, try to remember that infertility is a medical condition. You are doing nothing "wrong."