What Causes Infertility?

This content is from
pages 230 to 231 of Where Women Have No Doctor

Problems with sperm, the testicles, or the penis can all lead to infertility. These problems can have a variety of causes.

Few sperm are produced, or the sperm produced cannot fertilize an egg, possibly because of:
- genetic or developmental problems.
- smoking tobacco, drinking a lot of alcohol, or using drugs.
- exposure to toxic chemicals.
- malnutrition or diabetes.
The testicles are damaged or work differently, possibly because of:
- illnesses like tuberculosis, mumps, or untreated STIs.
- physical injuries.
- a condition called varicocele that reduces blood flow to a testicle.
- changes in hormones, which affect sperm production.
The penis cannot deliver sperm to the vagina, possibly because of:
- conditions that make ejaculation difficult or impossible, such as diabetes or spinal cord injury, or a penis that doesn’t get hard during sex.
- an STI that damaged the tubes that carry the semen and sperm.

Problems with the egg, the womb, or the tubes can all lead to infertility. These problems can have a variety of causes.

Infertility caused by infection can be prevented. See Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and How to Prevent STIs.

blocked tube

fibroid

An egg is not produced, or an egg produced cannot develop into a fetus after fertilization, possibly because of:
- genetic problems.
- having very low or very high body fat, which affects the hormones that control ovulation.
- smoking tobacco, drinking a lot of alcohol, or using drugs
The womb is damaged or works differently, possibly because of:
- growths in the womb (like fibroids) that prevent pregnancy.
- scarring from an untreated STI, an infection after birth, or an unsafe abortion, which blocks sperm from reaching the egg or prevents a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb.
- differences in womb shape.
- changes in hormones that affect the womb’s lining.
The tubes stop sperm from reaching an egg, possibly because of:
- illnesses like tuberculosis or untreated STIs that damage the tubes and block the sperm.

Family planning is safe
	Family planning is sometimes blamed for infertility. But no family planning methods (other than sterilization) cause infertility except in very rare cases when an IUD has not been put in correctly and causes an infection in the womb or tubes. For more information, see Chapter 13, “Family Planning.”

This page was updated:22 Jan 2024

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