Understanding secondary infertility

Many people are unaware of secondary infertility and the benefits that Clomid can provide in becoming pregnant. Secondary infertility is the inability for a couple to get pregnant after one year of trying, even though they already have one or more children without the assistance of fertility medication or technology.

Many couples are unaware of secondary infertility because they were able to achieve pregnancy without difficulty when they had their first child. Thus, people assume that everything will happen smoothly and they are surprised and frustrated when they are unable to get pregnant:

"It felt like failure. It was hard to put [my] mind around why I was able to do it once and not again," said Kristin Peoples, who reported in a recent ABC News article that she struggled for seven years before she was able to have her second child.

Aside from couples' frustration, guilt and obsession that stems from secondary infertility, Resole, the National Infertility Association, reports that many have to deal with a non-understanding society. Other people can be less sympathetic to a couple's plight to have a second child.

As Kelcey Kintner reported in an April 2009 New York times post about her struggle to become pregnant with her third child, one nurse said to her "You should be grateful you have two. There are many women who come through here who may never have one."

Why does it happen?
According to Resolve,12 percent of U.S. women experience secondary infertility and it makes up half of all fertility problems. Obstetrician Roger W. Harms of the Mayo Clinic said that the causes of secondary infertility are often the same as those of primary infertility: females struggle due to endometriosis, ovulation tube disorders or fallopian tube damage, or male infertility due to low or impaired sperm production. However, Harms also said that secondary infertility could be influenced by weight gain, medication use, age or complications from prior pregnancies. He recommends that couples struggling with the condition seek out help from their physicians. Resolve advises that the paths from there are acceptance, treatment with drugs like Clomid or seeking out adoption and other alternative ways to have a child.

Clomid is some couples' first option. It works by blocking estrogen receptors in the brain and stimulating ovulation. Women who have a prescription fom their physicians can buy Clomid at an online pharmacy at discounted rates.