With infertility, there is common misconception
October 27, 2005 11:00 pm
WASHINGTON - “You think that when you decide to have babies, they just come right out,” said Joyce Agu, struggling at 44 to conceive why she thought getting pregnant would be so easy.
Americans are generally unaware of the prevalence, signs and causes of infertility, according to a survey released Thursday by RESOLVE: the National Infertility Association.
Unlike many, Agu and her 40-year-old husband, Uchenna Agu, have been willing to discuss it publicly. They told millions of TV watchers about their infertility as they competed in and won “The Amazing Race” in June.
According to 2002 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 7 million American women ages 15 to 44 had an impaired ability to have children – up from 6.1 million in 1995, an increase that could reflect an aging group of baby boomers.
Only a quarter of the 1,000 respondents in a survey this month knew that the number was in the millions, and a majority of both men and women said they don't know anyone who is infertile.
“Clearly, a great many would not recognize infertility if they saw it,” said Joseph Isaacs, president of RESOLVE. “This suggests to us the shame, the stigma attached to the disease.”
The real problem, say people struggling to conceive and doctors, is that nobody wants to talk about it because of that embarrassment or shame. Others end up confused about a problem they can't label.
“No one talks about it until after you're down the path,” said Uchenna Agu. “Nothing's being passed on, and when it's too late, we ask, ‘Why didn't anyone tell me?'”
Even women, who are reputed to discuss everything, seem to tip-toe around the problem.
“I've sat in fishing boats with males and didn't know anything about them after five hours,” said Dr. Charles Miller, an endocrinologist and gynecologic surgeon who practices in Illinois, “but I thought women knew everything about each other.”
Joyce Agu said that, to her, women's silence is easily explained. “You feel like you're not a full woman if you can't have a baby,” she said.
For the Agus, there is still hope of conception through such means as in-vitro fertilization. They're fortunate because their $1 million winnings from “The Amazing Race” can help pay for the expensive procedure – especially lucky, considering they worked for Enron and WorldCom before the scandals that obliterated the companies put them out of jobs. She is now a telephone company sales manager, and he works in real estate development.
But not everyone has that luxury, and few insurance companies offer infertility coverage. Only 12 percent of survey respondents said their insurance coverage included infertility treatment, and most infertile respondents cited cost as the main barrier to seeking treatment.
“This is one of the great remaining closeted issues,” said Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., who is supporting a bill that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for non-experimental infertility treatments.
Still, 42 percent of those surveyed said they don't know whether infertility treatment is covered by their insurance, so it's questionable whether that will change if coverage increases.
A better solution, then, might be a “more holistic approach early on,” Johnson said.
Education from a young age would help both men and women understand basic concepts, like the age at which fertility begins to decrease. The commonly cited age for rapid decline in fertility is 35 – young, it seems, at a time when more women are focused on careers and couples are conceiving later, but doctors say it's reasonable.
“I think 35 is being quite generous,” said Dr. Charles Miller, an endocrinologist and gynecologic surgeon with his own practice in Illinois. “We do not accept anonymous [sperm] donors in our program below the age of 32.”
Minorities of poll respondents knew that excessive caffeine intake in women, high blood pressure in men and diabetes contribute significantly to infertility. People tend to track those problems from a young age, so if their connection to fertility was known, more might seek early intervention.
Also, because of those problems' link to some that are more severe, like heart disease, “Infertility might be a way of signifying problems in later life,” Isaacs said.
The poll, conducted by Waggener Edstrom Worldwide Research, has a margin of error of 3.09 percentage points.
WASHINGTON - “You think that when you decide to have babies, they just come right out,” said Joyce Agu, struggling at 44 to conceive why she thought getting pregnant would be so easy.Americans are generally unaware of the prevalence, signs and causes of infertility, according to a survey released Thursday by RESOLVE: the National Infertility Association.
Unlike many, Agu and her 40-year-old husband, Uchenna Agu, have been willing to discuss it publicly. They told millions of TV watchers about their infertility as they competed in and won “The Amazing Race” in June.
According to 2002 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 7 million American women ages 15 to 44 had an impaired ability to have children – up from 6.1 million in 1995, an increase that could reflect an aging group of baby boomers.
Only a quarter of the 1,000 respondents in a survey this month knew that the number was in the millions, and a majority of both men and women said they don't know anyone who is infertile.
“Clearly, a great many would not recognize infertility if they saw it,” said Joseph Isaacs, president of RESOLVE. “This suggests to us the shame, the stigma attached to the disease.”
The real problem, say people struggling to conceive and doctors, is that nobody wants to talk about it because of that embarrassment or shame. Others end up confused about a problem they can't label.
“No one talks about it until after you're down the path,” said Uchenna Agu. “Nothing's being passed on, and when it's too late, we ask, ‘Why didn't anyone tell me?'”
Even women, who are reputed to discuss everything, seem to tip-toe around the problem.
“I've sat in fishing boats with males and didn't know anything about them after five hours,” said Dr. Charles Miller, an endocrinologist and gynecologic surgeon who practices in Illinois, “but I thought women knew everything about each other.”
Joyce Agu said that, to her, women's silence is easily explained. “You feel like you're not a full woman if you can't have a baby,” she said.
For the Agus, there is still hope of conception through such means as in-vitro fertilization. They're fortunate because their $1 million winnings from “The Amazing Race” can help pay for the expensive procedure – especially lucky, considering they worked for Enron and WorldCom before the scandals that obliterated the companies put them out of jobs. She is now a telephone company sales manager, and he works in real estate development.
But not everyone has that luxury, and few insurance companies offer infertility coverage. Only 12 percent of survey respondents said their insurance coverage included infertility treatment, and most infertile respondents cited cost as the main barrier to seeking treatment.
“This is one of the great remaining closeted issues,” said Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., who is supporting a bill that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for non-experimental infertility treatments.
Still, 42 percent of those surveyed said they don't know whether infertility treatment is covered by their insurance, so it's questionable whether that will change if coverage increases.
A better solution, then, might be a “more holistic approach early on,” Johnson said.
Education from a young age would help both men and women understand basic concepts, like the age at which fertility begins to decrease. The commonly cited age for rapid decline in fertility is 35 – young, it seems, at a time when more women are focused on careers and couples are conceiving later, but doctors say it's reasonable.
“I think 35 is being quite generous,” said Dr. Charles Miller, an endocrinologist and gynecologic surgeon with his own practice in Illinois. “We do not accept anonymous [sperm] donors in our program below the age of 32.”
Minorities of poll respondents knew that excessive caffeine intake in women, high blood pressure in men and diabetes contribute significantly to infertility. People tend to track those problems from a young age, so if their connection to fertility was known, more might seek early intervention.
Also, because of those problems' link to some that are more severe, like heart disease, “Infertility might be a way of signifying problems in later life,” Isaacs said.
The poll, conducted by Waggener Edstrom Worldwide Research, has a margin of error of 3.09 percentage points.
