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Secondary infertility always frustrating, often treatable

By Tim Brust
Special to The Times

It’s always difficult when a couple hear a doctor confirm what they had feared — that their problems conceiving a child are related to some physical problem.
If the problem can’t be easily corrected, infertile couples face the choice of undergoing long and sometimes difficult fertility procedures or not having children at all.

It’s especially difficult for couples who already have experienced at least one healthy pregnancy but have difficulty getting pregnant or maintaining later pregnancies. That’s what’s called secondary infertility.

Dr. Todd Myers, an obstetrician/gynecologist in Marietta, said he sees quite a few couples asking questions about secondary infertility.

“I see more of that than primary infertility,” he said.

It’s estimated that 5 percent of the adult population experiences secondary infertility. Denise Futton and her husband experienced it nearly 20 years ago when they decided to have a second child.

Futton said it’s frustrating finding out what was possible just two or three years earlier is either very difficult or impossible.

“It’s like blind people who have seen, then can’t,” she said.

Couples who find it difficult to conceive a second time often find very little empathy for their problem. Most people are sympathetic toward childless couples but don’t often consider the feelings of those who already have one or two children.

Some parents also feel guilty about not being able to provide their child with a sibling.

The Futtons had always planned to have more than one child.

"It was important to us for our child not to grow up as an only child," she said.

The Futtons’ story had a happy ending. In fact, it had two happy endings. Futton said in 1988, she underwent a successful procedure to fertilize several of her eggs outside of the womb and place them back inside her fallopian tube. She gave birth to a daughter.

About a year and a half later, she gave birth to another daughter, this time without undergoing any special procedure or therapy.

Futton said the cause of the infertility was never really explained. Myers said problems can pop up in just a few months, let alone a few years. Sperm count can drop, infections can damage tissue.

Myers said the good news for couples with secondary infertility is that those couples usually have better luck. Couples who have never had success usually have greater obstacles to overcome.

“You usually have more success treating secondary infertility,” he said.

Myers said medical science has a wide range of tests for couples who are having fertility problems. Once a problem is diagnosed, ovulation can be manipulated through medication and more accurately predicted. There are also techniques to improve sperm count and mobility.

Myers said couples attempting to conceive a child shouldn’t wait too long to get medical advice.

“If they try for a year (and haven’t succeeded) we recommend they see a doctor,” he said.