Things that can affect a woman's fertility

Household chemicals

Exposure to pollutants, pesticides, and industrial compounds can decrease a couple's ability to have children by up to 29%, according to a 2013 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Additionally, a 2015 Washington University study found that 15 common chemicals were associated with early menopause.

These chemicals include nine PCBs (which have been banned since 1979 but still exist in older products), three pesticides, two forms of plastics called phthalates (often found in personal care items and beauty products like perfumes and nail polishes), and the toxin furan, a byproduct of industrial combustion.


Medical history

Certain medical treatments can affect a woman’s fertility. Surgery to the ovaries could damage ovaries or reduce ovarian reserve. Similarly, cancer-treatments like chemotherapy and radiation can destroy a woman’s eggs or cause premature menopause.


Stress

Women with higher levels of an enzyme linked to stress had a harder time getting pregnant in a 2014 study published in Human Reproduction. Researchers say this study doesn't indicate that stress alone is responsible for fertility problems, but they do suggest that women who have been trying to get pregnant for several months try adopting a stress management program.

"Perceived stress can certainly alter hormone levels and ovulation," says Dr. Arredondo. "Stress itself is not bad, but when it is in excess—and when we react to it in a negative way—it can have all kinds of impact on our health and our bodies."

Anatomical or gynecological issues

Damage to reproductive organs due to injury or disease is also a major factor in determining a woman’s fertility. Endometriosis, for example, is a disorder in which tissue from inside the uterus begins to grow on other organs, causing swelling, cysts, or blockages that might prevent pregnancy.

Some women may also have congenital structural abnormalities, like fallopian tube defects or abnormally-shaped uterus that might cause infertility.


Spending hours at the gym could be detrimental.

Though there's no question that staying active and maintaining a healthy weight is important to overall health and fertility, overdoing it can lower a woman's chances to conceive.

According to Mayo Clinic, too much vigorous physical activity can inhibit the production of an important hormone called progesterone. Progesterone helps regulate ovulation, which is a crucial part of fertility.


In order to balance staying active with maintaining healthy hormone levels, try to limit intense physical activity to five hours a week while you're trying to get pregnant.


Age

Almost one-in-six couples experience problems with fertility - and age is one of the biggest factors. Here's how it works: Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, explains Dr Spyridon Chouliaras, consultant in reproductive medicine at the Create Fertility Clinic in London. On the other hand, he says, men constantly produce sperm.

"We sometimes say that women are 'warehouses' of eggs whereas men are 'factories' of sperm," he explains, adding that as women age both the number and quality of their eggs decrease.

Senior clinical embryologist Declan Keane, founder of the ReproMed Fertility Clinics puts it like this: "As the woman ages, her ovarian reserve, or the number of her primordial egg follicles, is reducing significantly year on year."

In fact, he says a woman's egg numbers reduce all the time, even prior to her first period.


"Every menstrual cycle, many hundreds of egg follicles are recruited from the woman's ovaries, but only a few mature eggs are to be ovulated.

"This large wastage means that, year on year, the egg numbers available from the ovaries are reducing." So, actually, explains Keane, it's not so much a woman's age but her egg numbers and their quality that directly reduce her chances of conceiving by decreasing fertilisation capacity and increasing the miscarriage rate and foetal abnormality rates.

"Even younger woman can be affected by reduced fertility due to their ovarian reserve," he says, adding that a simple blood test of your anti-mullerian hormone AMH can be a guide to your contemporary fertility profile. It is estimated that after the age of 37.5 years women lose two eggs per ovary per day, says Chouliaras, who points that the drop in fertility increases significantly after the age of 35 and more so after 40.

"A couple trying to get pregnant has approximately 20pc chance per month when the woman is 30 but only 5pc chance per month when she is 40. After 44 the chance of conception is very slim."

Assisted reproduction technology such as IVF can help older women to get pregnant, he says, but as the reserve of the eggs and their quality deteriorates, the success of IVF diminishes.

Oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing) is a technique which is now increasingly used by women who wish to preserve their fertility.

Scientists believe that men's sperm deteriorate with age says Chouliaras, adding that fertility is affected for men once they are over the age of 40 - more so over 45, he explains.

Declan Keane explains: "We know from sperm DNA fragmentation research that as men age, the genetic quality of their sperm decreases.

"DNA in cells is tightly bound into the double helix structure," says Keane, adding that the quality of the genetic message which the sperm delivers to the egg is negatively affected by the breakdown or fragmentation of this structure.

"Diet, general health and lifestyle factors can influence sperm DNA packaging," he says, adding that as men age the DNA quality of cells is decreasing in quality.


Being too thin can also make it harder to get pregnant.

Just as being overweight can interfere with fertility, being underweight can also have a negative effect on your ability to conceive. According to the Office on Women's Health, being underweight with a BMI of 18.5 of less can cause your body to stop making normal amounts of estrogen. Along with causing irregular menstrual cycles, this can prevent ovulation and greatly reduce the chances of conception.


Smoking increases rate of infertility even occasionally in women 

If smoke, you could be putting your fertility in jeopardy. Per the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, infertility rates in both male and female smokers are around  twice the rate of infertility  experienced by nonsmokers. Female smokers are also less less likely to get pregnant through IVF and are more likely to miscarry.

The likelihood of infertility increases with the number of cigarettes smoked daily. Quitting can improve fertility, but because smoking harms a woman's finite egg supply, some of the damage cannot be reversed.

Male smokers have also been shown  to have decreased sperm counts, lower sperm motility, and more abnormally shaped sperm.


Drinking too much of alcohol reduce your chances of getting pregnant 

Though we don't really know much about the effects of moderate drinking on fertility, heavy drinking is associated with an increased risk  of ovulation problems. According to Mayo Clinic, a person's ability to ovulate is likely hindered by consuming too much alcohol. In fact, doctors recommend abstaining from alcohol completely if you're trying to get pregnant.


Sexual Health History 

Sexually transmitted infections like chlamydia and gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and cause fertility problems, even years after a woman contracts them. In fact, chlamydia can cause damage to the fallopian tubes without any other symptoms, and many women may not know they had the disease until they experience trouble getting pregnant.

It's important to note, though, that vaginal infections (like yeast infections) have no effect on fertility, says Dr. Schlaff.


Late night use of smartphone affects your ability to have a child 

According to a study published in the journal "Fertility and Sterility," exposure to artificial nighttime light can reduce a woman's ability to conceive and might even negatively affect fetal development in pregnant people.

The research has shown that artificial light at night can suppress production of the hormone melatonin, which functions in part to protect eggs from harmful free radicals and regulates the body's sleep cycle. In pregnant women, a lack of melatonin might even disrupt the internal clock of a developing fetus.

Being overweight has a negative effect on your fertility.

Staying at a healthy weight is an important part of looking after your fertility. Carrying around unnecessary pounds can lead to trouble getting pregnant.

"When you're overweight or obese, your adipose tissue produces more estrogen than necessary—which can  prevent regular ovulation," gynecologist Nita Landry explained to Self.

People who are obese are more likely  to develop PCOS, which is the leading cause of infertility in women.

Hormones

Hormones play an important role for a woman in the process of getting and staying pregnant. Any change in the level of hormones can change the way your body functions.

There are many hormones at work in the process of ovulation and conception – such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estrogen and progesterone. Each of these hormones must be present at the right time and in the right quantity to ensure that pregnancy goes smoothly. One example of hormones affecting pregnancy is PCOS where presence of elevated androgens prevents a woman’s body from ovulating properly.


Breast Feeding 

It's a myth that you can't get pregnant while breastfeeding, but at the same time, it's true that women who are still nursing one child may have trouble conceiving another one. "It impacts ovulation," says Dr. Schlaff. "It's not impossible—so it shouldn't be used as your only birth control method—but it is a decision that can have a negative impact on your fertility." Older moms who want to have another baby before they have to worry about age-related fertility decline should discuss how long to breastfeed with their doctor.

Otherwise, it may be better to wait at least a year and a half before having another child, anyway: a 2014 University of Cincinnati College of Medicine study found that women who wait less than 18 months after having a child to conceive again are more likely to have a shorter pregnancy and preterm birth.

Drinking coffee too often 

If you chug coffee like it’s water, you might be messing with your fertility. A2011 study found that caffeine can interfere with the muscle contractions that push eggs from the ovaries to the uterus.

Additionally, a 2012 study  conducted in Denmark suggested that women who drink five cups or more of coffee per day are half as likely to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization.

Genetics

Most women will generally experience menopause around the same time as their mothers did. These are called hereditary factors or genetics that affect a woman’s fertility. It might be a good idea to talk to your mother about how old she was when she went through menopause. This will help you decide when to start a family.