The diagnosis of infertility is not usually considered valid until after one year of engaging in sexual relations with the same partner without contraception. Formerly, a couple's inability to have children was almost always ascribed to infertility in the female. It is now known that about 35 per cent of the cases of infertility are due to male factors, about 35 per cent to female factors, and the remaining 30 per cent to a combination of male and female factors.
Most specialists subject both partners to an infertility study.
More than half the couples who consult a specialist with a problem of infertility can achieve a live birth. About 5 per cent become fertile spontaneously without any treatment. Diagnostic tests commonly used to identify female-related causes of infertility include a general pelvic examination, culdoscopy, and laparoscopy. In order to check ovulation, the physician may ask the patient to keep a basal temperature chart or, if indicated, an endometrial biopsy may be performed. One cause of infertility is infection or obstruction within the fallopian tubes.