Women: When are you going to have a baby?

For whatever reason, all around the world, women's bodies are seen for one thing and one thing only- to birth children. It is a constant pressure, especially as women get older or get married. Something society seems to forget is, that not every women can have children and not every women WANTS children. And that's okay.

Reasons women don't get pregnant:

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According to the CDC about 6.1 million women in the United States (15-44) have trouble getting pregnant and/or staying pregnant. One reason a women may not be able to get pregnant is because she has problems with ovulation which can be caused by polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). This means there is a hormone imbalance causing ovulation issues. Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) also causes ovulation problems but with POI a woman's ovaries will stop working properly before she reaches 40 (not menopause). Another cause for ovulation issues is called Hypothalamic dysfunction which is caused by excess physical/emotional stress, very high/very low body weight, or recent weight gain/loss. This disorder effects the two hormones that are responsible for stimulation ovulation. 

Blocked fallopian tubes is another reason a woman may not be able to get pregnant. A blocked fallopian tube can be caused by pelvic inflammatory disease, infection to the uterus and fallopian tubes due to an STI, and surgeries in the pelvis 

Endometriosis is another reason women may not be able to get pregnant. This is when the tissue grown in the uterus grows in other parts of the body. The extra tissue can cause a block in fallopian tubes and if a woman has surgery to remove the extra tissue, the scarring can cause a block in the fallopian tubes.

An increased likelihood of miscarriage can also make it difficult for a woman to become pregnant. This can be cause by benign tumors, uterine abnormalites and cervical stenosis.

There are also a number of risk factors that can put a woman at high risk for infertility such as age, smoking, weight, sexual history, and alcohol consumption. 

Sometimes, there is no reason. Unexplained infertility is also a cause of not being able to get pregnant.

But what about the women who don't want children? Some women just do not want to have children, plain and simple, and that's okay. Society seems to think that women are just here to bare children but that is not the case. Yes, the majority of women want to have children and do have children. There are still plenty of women who want the "traditional household"- husband, kids, stay at home mom, etc. But not EVERY women wants that life for a multitude of reason- financial struggles, the woman's age, maybe she wants to get through college first, maybe she hasn't found "the one", maybe she wants to travel the world instead, maybe she wants to adopt, maybe the thought of having someone who depends solely on you throws the woman into a panic attack, or maybe she really just doesn't want to have children.

People never think about any of these things when they ask the question "when are you having kids?". Yes, it's something a woman's family or friends may want to know, especially if she's married or even in a long term relationship, but it's not anyone's business but hers (and her partners). No one NEEDS to know if/when a woman plans to have children. No one needs to know why a woman doesn't want to have children but people do need to know that it's a sensitive subject to A LOT of women and they have no right to ask a woman when she is going to have a baby.