Hesperian Health Guides
What Is Infertility?
HealthWiki > Where Women Have No Doctor > Chapter 14: Infertility (When You Are Not Able to Have a Baby) > What Is Infertility?
Untreated sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a common cause of infertility
Infertility includes being unable to become pregnant and being unable to make another person pregnant. We say a couple is infertile when they cannot get pregnant after having unprotected penis-in-vagina sex several times a week for a year. A person can also be considered infertile if they have a medical condition that affects their ability to get pregnant or cause a pregnancy.
Infertility has many causes. Sometimes it is possible to find the cause and treat it, but not always. The cause may be in one partner or both, and sometimes both partners seem healthy and no doctor or test can find out why they cannot get pregnant.
| All these reproductive parts need to work, and work together, for pregnancy to happen. |
 tube
penis
testicle
scrotum
|
 healthy egg
womb
tube
ovary
vagina
healthy
sperm |
| Sperm are produced in the testicles and inserted in a partner’s vagina during penis-in-vagina sex | Sperm deposited in the vagina swim through the womb and one sperm joins with an egg in the tube. |