When Getting Pregnant is Difficult

Read about infertility, its causes and risk factors.

Aisha Tyler - Tyler was the black sheep ("I stood out in high school because I was tall, weird and Black," she said) that blossomed into a swan. The former Talk Soup host and Friends series regular is the total package: gorgeous, brainy and funny as hell. What's more, Tyler  — whose humor can be so dirty it would make Chris Rock blush — has no problem being one of the boys.  (Photo: Mark Davis/Getty Images for CCTA)

1 / 8

Aisha Tyler and Infertility - Comedienne and talk show host Aisha Tyler admitted on The Talk that she has struggled with getting pregnant. According to Tyler, she has a 5 percent chance of conceiving. While Tyler is not alone, infertility and Black women is not a topic that is talked about a lot. Read more about the causes of infertility and our specific risk factors. 

A Woman Cannot Get Pregnant While on Her Period - Yes, it’s unlikely, but it’s not impossible. Sperm can stay inside the body for up to a week and if you ovulate during or soon after your period, you can get pregnant. So be mindful about using contraception. (Photo: Thinkstock Images/Getty Images)

2 / 8

What Is Infertility? - Infertility is when you cannot get pregnant after a year of having unprotected sex. If you are over 35, infertility means not getting pregnant after six months. The good news: Just because you are having issues conceiving, doesn’t mean that you can never have a baby or that you are sterile. (Photo: Thinkstock Images/Getty Images)

Get Yours! - Characters in movies may have picture-perfect sex every time without saying a word, but in real life, having a love connection doesn’t mean you can read each other’s minds. So if you’re not getting everything you want in bed, it’s your right — no, your duty — to speak up. Try one of these strategies to have the best sex of your life. By Kenrya Rankin Naasel (Photo: Getty Images/STOCK)

3 / 8

How Common Is Infertility? - It’s more common than you might think. Fifteen percent of all U.S. couples — 7.5 million people — experience some type of infertility and almost half of those couples end up getting pregnant with the help of doctors or on their own, says Wed MD. Only a mere 1-2 percent of couples are actually sterile. (Photo: Comstock Images/Getty Images)

Get Help - If someone has said something to you about wanting to kill themselves or you are noticing a lot of signs, DO NOT sit idly by. Call a doctor, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or try to convince your loved one to go to the hospital immediately and seek help. (Photo: Izabela Habur/Getty Images)

4 / 8

Black Women and Infertility - Surprisingly, Black women are two times more likely to suffer from infertility issues than white women: 11.5 percent vs. 7 percent. And while we hear a lot about age being a factor in infertility, there are many other factors that we face, including obesity, fibroids and untreated STDs to name a few. (Photo: Izabela Habur/Getty Images)

New Report: The Health State of African-American Women - The Center of American Progress recently released a fact sheet on the state of Black women in America. This snapshot of our lives includes a range of issues including  serious racial health disparities. According to the sheet, one in four Black women is uninsured, we have the highest rates of hypertension among women and we are four times more likely to die during childbirth. (Photo: Image Source/Getty Images)

5 / 8

Obesity and Pregnancy - Another factor that serves as a barrier to pregnancy is obesity, which can create hormone imbalances that make it harder to conceive. Also, a 2011 study found that overweight Black women don’t respond as well to infertility treatment as women of other races. (Photo: Image Source/Getty Images)

ADVERTISEMENT
sb10069520i-001,x-default

6 / 8

Untreated and Undiagnosed STDs - Another reason to go to the gyno: Untreated STDs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea can raise your risk of infertility by creating inflammation or scarring your fallopian tubes. When it comes to STDs, Black women bear the brunt of the epidemic and we are less likely to be our STDs treated due to lack of health insurance. (Photo: Blasius Erlinger/Getty Images)

Diabetes Costs Nation $245 Billion Annually - A new study found that diabetes-related costs have gone up 41 percent in the past five years, reported USA Today. Researchers from the American Diabetes Association found that this massive increase isn’t due to rising treatment costs per patient, but because millions more people were diagnosed with diabetes over the years. (Photo: Leland Bobbe / Getty Images)

7 / 8

Diabetes and Infertility - Diabetes can impact a woman’s chance of getting pregnant, too. The disease can cause polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which is a hormonal imbalance that creates cysts and blocks eggs from being released from your ovaries. This is the number one cause for infertility among women. (Photo: Leland Bobbe/Getty Images)

Electronic Health Records - Insurers will be required to provide electronic health records, which will reduce paperwork and costs and make it easier for health care providers, from physicians to pharmacists, to access a patient's information. (Photo: Getty Images/STOCK)

8 / 8

Seeking Help - Black women are less likely to seek help for infertility issues, so one way to get ahead of infertility is to talk to your doctor about your risk factors, predicting ovulation, the best ways to conceive and possible treatment options if needed. (Photo: Todd Pearson/Getty Images)