Dr. Drew Moffitt discusses the often surprising fact that at least 10% of couples have infertility. He addresses common infertility issues, their causes, and the fertility treatments that can help couples with those conditions get pregnant. Dr. Moffitt examines who is a good candidate for a fertility evaluation by a fertility expert and how that can determine the treatment that best addresses their situation. Learn more at https://arizonafertility.com
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Starting a family is a very big decision,
00:02 and when to start one is very important.
00:04 With us is Dr. Moffitt of ARMS with us
00:06 to talk a little bit about when it's time,
00:09 especially when you're maybe having fraternity problems,
00:12 fraternal problems, or different things like that.
00:15 Let's talk about ARMS' first.
00:17 - So Arizona Reproductive Medicine Specialists, or ARMS,
00:19 is just a full-service infertility clinic.
00:22 We help people make babies, and that's what we're about.
00:26 - And we're talking about when.
00:28 We know that people kind of like put it off,
00:30 or people are kind of like having problems having children.
00:34 So when's the best time to really come see someone like you?
00:36 - Yeah, so as we've talked about before,
00:38 the biggest problem we face is people coming in too late.
00:42 And by too late, we mean their egg supply
00:44 is getting critically low.
00:46 And though we can do things, it's just a lot harder.
00:48 So we'd like to try and bring people in sooner.
00:50 And so that has to do with, well,
00:52 what is the definition of infertility?
00:54 When am I infertile?
00:55 And so we basically focus on three things.
00:57 Number one, are you having a period every month?
01:01 Number two, your age.
01:02 And number three, your duration.
01:04 So as far as the first one,
01:05 if you're not having a period every month,
01:08 there's no reason to wait a year.
01:10 Ovulation is what causes a period,
01:12 and if you're not ovulating, you're not releasing an egg,
01:15 no egg, no baby.
01:16 So if you're not having a period once a month, come in.
01:18 Usually it's very easy to diagnose, very easy to treat,
01:22 no need to wait.
01:23 If you are having regular monthly periods,
01:25 then we talk about age and duration.
01:27 So let's talk about duration first.
01:29 So we don't use the term trying,
01:33 because some people will,
01:34 we use the term at-risk for pregnancy.
01:37 And what that means is,
01:38 how long have you been sexually active,
01:41 at-risk for pregnancy,
01:42 and not on any type of a birth control pill?
01:45 The reason why we do that instead of trying
01:46 is because some people will say,
01:48 "How long have you been trying?"
01:49 "Six months."
01:50 "Well, how long have you been at-risk for pregnancy?"
01:51 "Oh, six years."
01:53 - Wow, so it's about the age there.
01:55 - It's about that duration.
01:57 And then the duration that matters depends on your age.
02:00 And so if you are 35 or younger,
02:04 if you've been at-risk for pregnancy for a year or more,
02:08 then you meet the definition of infertility
02:10 and should come in for an evaluation.
02:12 - What plays a little bit into infertility?
02:14 I mean, is it dieting?
02:15 Is it exercising?
02:17 Is it, of course, being on the pill or in birth control?
02:21 - Yeah, so obviously,
02:21 if you're trying to prevent pregnancy, that's an issue.
02:24 We don't think that there's a lot of diet or stress
02:27 or lifestyle things that would cause a problem.
02:31 It's more just has to do with the biology
02:35 of what's going on.
02:35 And that's why we need to do diagnostic testing.
02:39 As far as age, if you are older than 35,
02:44 then the time that you should be at-risk for pregnancy
02:47 before coming in is if it's greater than just six months.
02:50 Because as you are getting over the age of 35,
02:53 you have less time.
02:54 And so you need to go in for a diagnosis sooner.
02:57 - And this is a very important talk to have with somebody
02:59 because there are people out there
03:00 who are getting frustrated about having families.
03:03 They think it's him, they think it's her,
03:04 but it actually just could be a combining
03:07 of different things.
03:08 And that's why they come to see you
03:09 so you can walk them through.
03:10 And we also were talking about younger.
03:13 I mean, you and I are, I'm older than you, young man.
03:17 And we know that when we were growing up,
03:20 families were started younger.
03:21 And now we're seeing them starting older.
03:23 And that's one thing that really plays a big factor
03:25 in someone having a family, right?
03:27 - Exactly.
03:28 So basically you're born with all the eggs
03:30 you're gonna have and you go through life losing them.
03:32 And so it's mainly a female issue, not so much a male issue.
03:35 And after the age of 35,
03:38 that fertility is going down very fast.
03:41 That's why we kind of use that as a hard stop.
03:44 But we also don't wanna make people too stressed out.
03:46 So that's why I'd like to talk a little bit about trying.
03:48 What does trying mean?
03:50 The two things to remember are number one,
03:53 sperm survive for several days in the fallopian tube.
03:56 But the egg only survives for 24 hours after it comes back.
04:00 So when people are trying,
04:01 typically what they think about is,
04:03 well, we need to time sex.
04:04 We need to do it at a very specific time.
04:07 But the reality is, if you're having sex
04:09 two or three times a week, it's gonna be fine.
04:12 If you can't do that, then you probably do need to time it.
04:15 But timing causes a lot of stress.
04:17 And so it's better to not do that
04:19 because infertility in and of itself
04:21 is a very stressful thing.
04:22 - Yeah, and that's why it's important to have the talk
04:25 with someone like you and your team
04:27 to walk them through things.
04:28 And it's so important for them to do that.
04:30 So where can they find out more about ARMS?
04:32 - Website is arizonafertility.com.
04:35 Just arizonafertility.com and all the stuff's there.
04:38 - It is, perfect.
04:39 Dr. Marder, thanks for joining us this morning.
04:40 - You're welcome.
04:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]