Female Factor

Female factor infertility can be broken down into three categories: Hormonal factors, fallopian tube factors, and uterine factors. We'll break these down and go into further detail.

• Hormonal Factors
• ****Hypothalamus or pituitary areas of the brain can fail to signal an egg to develop
• ****Failure to release an egg (ovulation) or failure to make ready the endometrial lining to accept an egg once it is fertilized
• ****Low progesterone can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting because the endometrium will not build up and develop properly. This is called Luteal Phase Defect.
• Fallopian Tube Factors
• ****Infections such as gonorrhea or chlamydia can cause scar tissue to form around the tube, in its walls, or inside the channel.
• ****Any irritation of the pelvis--from appendicitis to endometriosis--may produce inflammation or scarring of the reproductive organs.
• ****An IUD can cause tubal infection and produce tubal scarring
• Uterine Factors
• ****Structural abnormalities of the uterus can prevent pregnancy. An example of this is a bicornuate uterus. This is the condition of having a wall dividing the uterine cavity into two halves, each usually having one fallopian tube connecting to it.
• ****Fibroids are non-cancerous growths in the walls of the uterus which may distort the uterine lining and compress or twist the fallopian tubes, making implantation or sperm-egg travel impossible.

This is just a partial list of potential female factors. Again, this is not meant to be substituted for medical attention. If you think you have a problem, please see your physician.

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