Uterine Factor Infertility – Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

Many people and couples around the world deal with uterine factor infertility, which is a complicated and emotionally serious disease. If a woman’s uterus can’t support a pregnancy, she has this problem. This makes it hard or impossible for her to get pregnant and carry the baby to term. In this in-depth piece, we will talk about all the different parts of uterine factor infertility, such as its causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options.

What Is Uterine Factor Infertility?

Uterine factor infertility is when the uterus, which is an important part of reproduction, can’t support a safe pregnancy. If an egg is fertilized, it implants in the uterus, which is a very important part of reproduction because that’s where the baby grows. Infertility problems can happen when the uterus has certain problems or isn’t working right.

Who Can Get Uterine Factor Infertility?

Women of all ages, races, and backgrounds can have uterine factor infertility. It’s not just for a certain group of people. Some people may be more likely to get this condition. If they have had uterine surgeries in the past, if they were born with congenital uterine abnormalities, or if they have a medical disease that affects the uterus.

What Are the Types of Uterine Factors That Cause Female Infertility?

Urine factor infertility (UFI) comes in a few different types, each with its symptoms and reasons. These are the most popular types:

1. Birth Defects in the Uterus: Some women are born with problems in the structure of their uterus, like having a septate or bicornuate uterus. These problems can make it hard for a fertilized egg to implant or cause repeated losses.
2. Uterine Fibroids: These are growths in the uterine wall that are not dangerous 1. They might not always make it impossible to get pregnant, but they can make it hard to get pregnant by blocking the fallopian tubes or messing up the process of pregnancy.
3. Asherman’s Syndrome: This condition happens when adhesions form inside the uterus because of earlier uterine surgeries like dilation and curettage (D&C). This scar tissue can make it hard for a fertilized egg to implant properly.

Causes Of Infertility for Uterine Factor

For the right evaluation and treatment of uterine factor infertility, it is important to know what causes it. These are some common reasons:

Problems that were there from the start. Birth defects that affect the structure of the uterus can make it hard for a baby to grow.

2. Surgical Procedures: Having surgery on the uterus in the past, like removing tumors or stopping bleeding that isn’t normal, can cause scarring and adhesions to form inside the uterus.
3. Infections: Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and other infections of the uterus can hurt the lining of the uterus and make it harder to get pregnant.
4. Uterine Fibroids: These are growths that are not cancerous but can block the fallopian tubes or make it hard for an egg to implant.
5. Endometriosis: This is a disease where uterine endometrial tissue grows outside of the uterus. It can make the reproductive organs swell and scar.
6. Causes That Can’t Be Explained: Sometimes, the exact cause of uterine factor infertility is still unknown.

What Are the Signs Of Uterine Factor Infertility?

Uterine factor infertility is often silent, which means that people may not have any obvious symptoms. However, the following are some common signs and symptoms:

1. Periods that aren’t regular
2. Major or minor periods that hurt
3. A lot of blood during your period
4. Having multiple losses
5. Trouble getting pregnant even after a year of regular, unsafe physical relation

Is Uterine Factor Infertility Carrying a Pregnancy?

It is still possible to get pregnant with some forms of uterine factor infertility. There is an increased risk of miscarriage, breech presentation, early delivery, and other complications due to the abnormality of the uterus.

The specific type of uterine malformation may determine the overall risk of conception and the likelihood of becoming pregnant. Pregnancy in a woman with a malformed uterus requires careful monitoring. As an example, a unicornuate uterus carries a higher risk of ectopic pregnancies, while a septate (split) uterus is linked to a heightened risk of early miscarriages.

What is Acquired Uterine Factor Infertility

Infertility can develop at any point in a woman’s reproductive years due to a variety of factors that alter the uterus’s structure and function or need its removal.

Here are several examples:

• Fibroids, such as those caused by endometriosis
• Marks left by previous surgical procedures
• Infectious scarring
• Cancer

How Do You Tell If Someone Has Uterine Factor Infertility?

To confirm a diagnosis of uterine factor infertility, doctors usually need to perform several medical exams and tests. Parts of the process could be:

1. Medical History: Your doctor will ask you about your full medical history as well as your menstrual history, including any surgeries, illnesses, or problems with your fertility.
2. Physical Exam: To check the health of your reproductive systems, a pelvic exam may be performed.
3. Imaging: Ultrasound and other imaging methods can help find problems with the uterus’s structure, such as tumors or scar tissue.
4. Hormone Testing: Hormone levels and pregnancy can be checked by drawing blood.
5. Hysterosalpingography (HSG): In this special X-ray technique, contrast dye is injected into the uterus to show any problems in the uterine cavity and ensure the fallopian tubes are open.
6. Endometrial Biopsy: Doctors may take a small tissue sample from the lining of the uterus to check for problems or signs of inflammation.

Diagnosis and Treatment Options For Uterine Factor Infertility? 

Uterine factor infertility is a broad term that covers a variety of issues. That can make it hard to conceive or carry a pregnancy to term. Since this is still a poorly studied topic, fertility doctors have to take each patient’s unique situation into account when deciding whether surgery or IVF will be the best course of treatment.

Surgical removal of structural abnormalities, such as fibroids and polyps, is typically effective. The possibility of surgical scar healing is low. In vitro fertilization (IVF) patients experiencing uterine factor infertility are advise to undergo a single embryo transfer to reduce the potential for adverse events.

Gestational surrogacy had always been the only option for women with absolute uterine factor infertility. However, this changed just a few years ago with the first recorded case of a successful live delivery after a uterus transplant. There were 17 documented cases of uterine transplants as of the report’s publishing in June 2017. Because of the high success rate of these procedures, uterus transplantation is emerging as a potential surgical solution for women suffering from absolute uterine factor infertility.

Conclusion

Uterine factor infertility is a complicated and mentally difficult condition that can make it hard to become a parent. With today’s better medical technology and wide range of treatment choices, though, many people and couples can get past this problem and reach their goal of having a child. If you think you might have uterine factor infertility. You should get medical help right away and talk to a fertility specialist to find the best treatment choices for your specific case.

Dr Ritu Agarwal

Dr. Ritu Agarwal is an appreciated IVF expert in Jaipur for IVF therapy, owing to her more than ten years of experience in this field. She is the top IVF specialist in Jaipur who makes every attempt to provide correct counseling and emotional support to patients in order to help them find the ideal solution for becoming parents.