I have a child, so why can’t I conceive again?

Why would a couple, who have conceived a child naturally suddenly struggle to have a second child? We received this email from one of our readers who just couldn’t understand why she wasn’t able to conceive again

Dear IVF Babble, 

I feel so guilty writing to you because I know that there are so many couples who are desperate to be parents, who keep failing round after round of IVF, uncertain as to whether or not they will ever have a child- and here I am, a mother (40 yrs old) to a beautiful little boy of 5 years old, asking for help to conceive, having never had any fertility troubles before.  

But I need help. I don’t know what has happened to my body and why it has stopped functioning. I was hoping you would give me some guidance and help me understand what is happening and what I can do to help myself conceive. I so desperately want to give my son a sibling. What can I do? It would be great if you could answer my questions:

I conceived naturally, so quickly with my son, what do you think is the reason I am struggling now? Have I got secondary infertility?

Thank you so much for your help.

Elaine.

We turned to Dr Peter kerecsenyi from Manchester Fertility to answer Elaine’s question

Dear Elaine,

I am so sorry to hear about your struggle. It is a frustrating situation after a quick and easy conception. To conceive and carry a pregnancy sounds simple and straightforward, but it requires the harmonic cooperation of several complex body systems.

Often there is no obvious reason for secondary infertility. Changes can be related to age (egg reserve and quality), uterus (blocked tubes, fibroids, adenomyosis), autoimmune conditioned (acquired thrombophilia, underactive thyroid), declining sperm quality, and inadequate timing of sexual intercourse.

Secondary infertility often remains unexplained. Even in these cases, fertility treatment can be surprisingly successful.

At Manchester Fertility, we can see you to discuss health and lifestyle issues in great detail. We prefer to arrange a pelvic ultrasound scan, blood test (anti-Mullerian hormone test to begin with), and sperm test for an initial assessment.

It is generally true that over the age of 40, the egg reserve and egg quality declines more rapidly. Therefore, I would recommend arranging a fertility assessment to understand your fertility and talk about your next steps.

Wishing you all the best,

Peter

Do you have secondary infertility? Would you like to share your story with us? Drop us a line at mystory@ivfbabble.com

Read more about Secondary Infertility

Secondary Infertility explained