How common is infertility?

How common is infertility?

Richard Paulson (Chief, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, USC) gives expert video advice on: What factors can prevent me from becoming pregnant?; What are the leading causes of infertility among women?; What causes male infertility? and more...

Infertility is far more common than people think. And again, it depends on the age of the woman. We typically think of young couples--that is to say, where the wife is under the age of 35--as having infertility, in perhaps 12-15 percent of couples, maybe one out of six couples. But once you get past 35, and especially as you approach 40, easily 25 or even 35 percent of couples have some degree of infertility. So perhaps one woman in three, at the age of 40.