Infertility could be due to:

• Block in fallopian tubes, through which the mature egg from the ovaries move to the uterus
• Fallopian tube blocks can occur due to uterine infection especially through the sexual route; infection due to an abortion, a ruptured appendix or past abdominal surgery
• A complete absence of ovulation known as anovulation
• Irregular ovulation known as oligoovulation
• Endometriosis, a medical condition, where, unnecessary and abnormal tissue growth occurs at the external part of the uterus
• Unable to have normal sexual intercourse due to pain during coitus

In men, infertility can be due to:

• A complete absence of sperms in the semen, a condition called azoospermia
• A low sperm count, known as oligospermia
• Unusual and abnormal shapes of sperms known as teratozoospermia
• Complications related to the inadequate motility (movement) of sperms known as asthenozoospermia
• Complete absence of motility of the live sperms, known as necrozoospermia
• Snags pertaining to the delivery of sperms into the vagina during normal sexual intercourse due to obstruction, vasectomy in the past or retrograde ejaculation
• Erectile dysfunction
• Premature ejaculation
• Presence of varicocele, a varicose vein in the scrotum that causes low sperm count and impaired sperm movement.

Thus, IVF is usually the last option for couples:

• Who had failed to conceive normally even after regular unprotected sexual intercourse for more than two years
• Have had a fertility evaluation done and failed to respond to the available fertility treatments for the problems diagnosed after evaluation It is hence, right and prudent to go for an IVF at a point of time when, all other treatment options including
• Fertility medications
• Intrauterine insemination, a procedure that involves transfer of specially washed semen directly into the uterus
• Surgical procedures including laparoscopic surgery, surgical hysteroscopy, vasectomy reversal and tubal ligation reversal prove futile.

Further, age does matter in the realm of fertility and conception.

• Your IVF treatment options after evaluation is obviously determined by your age especially, when, you are in 30s and moreover, beyond 35.
• Age to a great extent determines the pregnancy rate (the number of confirmed pregnancies) and the number of live births, called the live birth rate in IVF procedures.