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
Generally, reproductive potential decreases as women get older, and fertility can be expected to end 5 to 10 years before menopause.
Posted Mar 09, 2017
Infertility is “the inability to conceive after 12 months of unprotected intercourse.”
Posted Mar 09, 2017
An evaluation of a woman for infertility is appropriate for women who have not become pregnant after having 12 months of regular, unprotected intercourse.
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
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
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
This can be confusing since the terms are often used interchangeably in the media and casual conversation. However, they are very different.
Posted Mar 10, 2017
Posted Mar 10, 2017
The chance of a normal couple conceiving is 20% to 37% by three months, 75% by six months, and 90% at one year. Of those couples that do not conceive in the first year, as many as 50% will conceive in the next year.
Posted Mar 11, 2017
The most common test of a man’s fertility is a semen analysis. This measures many features of the sperm and semen (the fluid in which the sperm are contained). The most important of these are the number of sperm (sperm count), motility of the sperm (percentage of moving sperm), morphology of the sperm (percentage of normally shaped sperm), and the volume of fluid.
Posted Feb 21, 2018
There are several reasons a man with a spinal cord injury (SCI) might have infertility. He may not be able to keep an erection long enough to have intercourse or ejaculate (release semen) during orgasm.
Posted Mar 11, 2017
Posted Mar 12, 2017
Posted Mar 13, 2017
A varicocele is a variation of normal anatomy in which veins in the scrotum (the sac that holds the testicles) become enlarged and sometimes even visible. Varicocele usually is first found at puberty and is much more common on the left side than on the right side. Sometimes it occurs on both sides.
Posted Mar 13, 2017
One of the easiest ways to determine if you are underweight or overweight is to calculate your body mass index (BMI). There are many tables available online (search term: BMI table). Enter your height and weight into the tool to see your BMI.