Usually a couple has tried for some time to achieve a pregnancy with medical treatments. Sometimes a woman can get pregnant, but she miscarries soon afterwards. Women over 40 years old often have these symptoms of infertility. The lack of egg cell production can be suggested by blood tests that show the status of hormones in the blood associated with egg cell production, and can be confirmed with ultrasound scanning equipment. A woman may not be able to produce healthy egg cells for several reasons.
Some women stop producing egg cells at a young age.
This is called premature ovarian failure . Some women are healthy, and would be able to carry through a pregnancy, but they are at an age when their body is decreasing production of egg cells. This is called ovarian failure , and can begin as early as age 35. There is usually a rapid decrease in the production of healthy egg cells after age 42, even though the woman may still be having regular menstrual periods. Sometimes a woman may have been exposed to substances or environmental conditions that may have affected her ability to produce eggs, or she may have had an injury that damaged her pelvic organs.