The ASRM Patient Fact Sheet is a series produced under the direction of the ASRM Patient Education Committee and the Publications Committee.
These fact sheets may be printed and distributed to patients to enhance patient education as long as the text is not altered and proper credit must be attributed to ASRM. Additional copies of booklets can be purchased in the ASRM Store.
Some Patient Education Fact Sheets are available en Español and 中文版本.
Posted Feb 28, 2017
For many infertile couples, making the decision to adopt can be just as hard as undergoing fertility treatment.
Posted Mar 09, 2017
As women get older, they may encounter difficulty getting pregnant (conceiving) with a healthy baby. Women are born with about 1-2 million eggs. Most of the eggs die off naturally (just like the way we lose skin and hair cells every day).
Posted Mar 09, 2017
There are many psychological, social, and economic issues associated with multiple pregnancies.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
More lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and couples are deciding to have children. Many of these individuals and couples choosing to build a family through assisted reproductive technology (ART) have concerns about how to best nurture and protect their children.
Posted Mar 09, 2017
CBRC is traveling from where you live to another country to obtain reproductive services and treatment.
Posted Mar 09, 2017
When a couple has trouble having a baby, there's about a 50-50 chance that the man has a problem contributing to the pregnancy.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
A woman’s age is one of the most important factors affecting whether she is able to conceive and give birth to a healthy child. This is due to several changes that are a natural part of aging.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
An ectopic pregnancy is any pregnancy that grows outside of the uterus (womb). In a normal pregnancy, the egg meets the sperm (is fertilized) in the fallopian tube and the embryo (fertilized egg) travels through the tube to the uterus.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
The diagnosis of an ectopic pregnancy is usually unexpected and is often emotionally traumatic. Many women may have only recently discovered they were pregnant when they receive the diagnosis.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Egg donation is when a woman (donor) gives her eggs to another woman (recipient) to allow the recipient to have a baby. To donate eggs, the donor must be given medications that will cause her to develop multiple eggs over a single cycle.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Endometrial ablation is a medical procedure that removes the lining of the uterus, called the endometrium.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Women with endometriosis may experience infertility, pelvic pain, or both.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Endometriosis is when tissue is found outside the uterus that appears similar to the lining of the uterus (endometrium).
Posted Mar 10, 2017
When tissue like the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus (endometrium) is found outside the uterus, it is termed “endometriosis.”
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Yes! New technology lets your doctor remove and freeze eggs, fertilized eggs (embryos), or ovarian tissue before treating your cancer. This way, you may be able to have children after your treatment.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Infertility treatments that cause multiple eggs to develop make it more likely that you will become pregnant with twins, triplets, or more. This is called multiple gestation.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Vasectomy is currently one of the most common methods of sterilization in the United States. After your vasectomy, if you change your mind about having children, there are two procedures that can help you have a child with your partner.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Can a fertility program or clinic deny treatment to patient(s) if there is concern about the ability to care for the child(ren)? Yes. Fertility programs can withhold services if there are signs that patients will not be able to care for child(ren).
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Uterine fibroids are benign (noncancerous) tumors of muscle tissue in the uterus. They are also called myomas or leiomyomas.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Gamete and embryo donation is using eggs, sperm, or embryos from someone else in order to help an intended parent(s) have a child. Intended parent is the term used for the person(s) who will raise the child(ren).
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Gamete donation is giving sperm, eggs, both, or embryos to another person/couple so that another person/couple may have a child. This offers patients the opportunity to have child(ren) when sperm and/or eggs or both are not healthy enough to lead to successful pregnancy.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Birth defects, which occur in nearly one in 20 pregnancies, range in severity from minor anatomic abnormalities to extensive genetic disorders or mental retardation. Some couples have a greater than average risk of having a child with a birth defect.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
A gestational carrier (GC), also called a gestational surrogate, is an arrangement where a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person (intended parent[s]). When using a GC, the eggs used to make the embryos do not come from the carrier.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Hirsutism is the excessive growth of facial or body hair on women.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Hormonal contraceptives contain a progestin (progesterone medicine) with or without an estrogen. Both progestin and estrogen are made in a laboratory and are similar to the hormones that all women naturally produce.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Infertility is typically defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after one year of unprotected intercourse.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Infertility is a medical condition that touches all aspects of your life. It may affect your relationships with others, your perspective on life, and how you feel about yourself. How you deal with these feelings will depend on your personality and life experiences.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Multiple births are much more common today than they were in the past. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the twin birth rate has increased by over 75% since 1980, and triplet, quadruplet, and high-order multiple births have increased at an even higher rate.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Puberty refers to the specific physical changes that happen as a child develops into an adult. Though they happen in different areas of the body, these changes are all related to each other.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Your embryos can be tested for abnormal chromosomes before they are transferred to the uterus. This is called preimplantation genetic testing, or PGT.
Posted Mar 11, 2017
Posted Mar 11, 2017
Stem cells are special cells found in very early stage embryos (i.e., 5 days after fertilization of an egg) and in some types of adult tissue. Stem cells are "undifferentiated" cells (sometimes referred to as "pluripotent").
Posted Mar 11, 2017
It is not clear how exactly stress impacts fertility. It is not known whether high levels of stress can prevent pregnancy or affect a woman’s chance of conceiving.
Posted Mar 13, 2017
Many women have a miscarriage at one time or another. Miscarriages can happen for many reasons. Having a miscarriage doesn’t mean a woman will have another miscarriage if she tries again.
Posted Mar 13, 2017
Clinical trials are research studies that test how safe and effective new drugs, treatments, and devices are. Health-care providers find patients with specific characteristics or health problems to test the product.
Posted Mar 13, 2017
Turner syndrome (TS) is an infrequent genetic disorder in females. About 1 in every 2,000 female babies born is affected.
Posted Mar 14, 2017
Posted Mar 13, 2017
Women who take fertility medicines to get pregnant have a higher chance of having more than one fetus in a pregnancy. Fetus is the term for developing humans from 11 weeks of pregnancy until birth.