Community post

I believe because we put so much strain on ourselves that it releases chemicals toxic to baby making. Also, the foods we eat are loaded with chemicals and hormones that I believe affect our own hormones... little by little taking away our ability to procreate on our own. I know a lot of people who seek out help to conceive a child these days. The amount of radiation we have around us too (eg. cell phones, microwaves, etc.) I know I sound like a whacko but I really do believe with all of these changes to our food have something to do with it. Most of the US food is genetically modified and aren't Whole Foods. And believe when I say I eat out and rarely buy organic foods... I pig out on cheetos and Ice Cream! LOL

Hzlgreeneyes- There might be something to that theory. I've been drinking lemon water for the past week and have noticed some changes. I don't really eat organic either. So would those things like radiation and chemicals would be changing our eggs so genetically a pregnancy never occurs for those of us with unexplained infertility?

I think we often overlook our men's health, too. My DH and I tried for over two years for our third baby. For those first two years, I spent the entire time focusing on MY fertility. I changed my diet, went on Clomid, and tried several natural remedies to increase fertility. My DH, however, never really changed his lifestyle. We had him tested at year two, and his sperm count was high enough to achieve pregnancy, but he only had 10% "rapid moving" sperm, 60% moderate, and 30% immobile. Our urologist pointed to environmental/health changes to boost those numbers. Limit alcohol, caffeine, eat more leafy green veggies, and drink lots of water. I do believe had we taken these things into consideration earlier in our TTC journey, we would have had more success. By the time we had learned all of this information about HIS health, we were already phasing out of TTC due to our age.

I've never been tested for celiac disease, but both times I've gone gluten-free, combined with fertility treatment, I've gotten pregnant. I've heard a lot of people talk about auto-immune issues too, but sometimes it's hard to convince a doctor to do the testing. Same for RPL panel if you've had less than 3 losses. I don't understand why doctors refuse to do testing if it might provide answers!

I have to respectfully disagree with the answers that indicate stress, diet, or lifestyle. Plenty of people who are addicted to drugs or are morbidly obese conceive with little effort every single day. It is unproductive and emotionally draining to assign guilt to a couple diagnosed with unexplained infertility, particularly when they have already tried the useless methods like acupuncture and diet, none of which are evidence-based.

If you actually read scientific journal articles about unexplained infertility, there is often an underlying case of undiagnosed endometriosis. Endometriosis is one of of the hardest diseases to diagnose, as the only main symptom is pain, and the only method of diagnosis is surgery. Not everyone has pain with this disease. This also explains why people diagnosed with unexplained infertility often have children naturally after using assisted reproductive technology; the condition of pregnancy clears up endometriosis in many cases. Beyond this theory, unexplained infertility remains unexplained.

I would also like to add that my diet is pretty standard, and I get plenty of exercise. I don't eat 'organic' food (all food is organic by the way, unless you are eating Styrofoam or something), and my egg quality is top notch. Egg quality is a result of genes and age.

I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I know how you feel. You're not alone with this! I don't have a uterus but I have a desire to become a mother. Well there are some options for me. I chose surrogacy. Now I'm looking for information and where it can be done. This process is not easy at all. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck and no one can help. I can't talk about it with friends or family. All people I know have children and don't have problems with fertility. They just don't get it. They will never understand how I feel. It feels like every month someone announces their pregnancy. Every month someone makes a baby shower. Not to mention all those photos of kids in social network. This is so hard and sometimes I feel like I can't take it anymore. I don't want to be rude but sometimes I have to skip baby showers or babies’ birthdays. I have to make up reasons not to go and it makes me feel a bad person. But what can I do? I'm sure when I will have my baby it will be easy for me. I will be able to divide happiness of parenthood with my friends. But now it makes me feel even more stressed than I am.

Definatly diet for us, the second my hubby changed up his diet introduced more fruits and veggies and cut down on processed foods we fell pregnant very quickly wth our 2nd bub.