Infertility Assistance, Awareness and Support

Angels of Hope, Inc., wishes to increase awareness of the loss of fertility with the hope of offering positive support during times of need.

Infertility is a disease of the reproductive system that impairs one of the body’s most basic functions: the conception of children. No one can be blamed for infertility any more than anyone is to blame for diabetes or leukemia. In rough terms, about one-third of infertility cases can be attributed to male factors, and about one-third to factors that affect women. For the remaining one-third of infertile couples, infertility is caused by a combination of problems in both partners or, in about 20 percent of cases, is unexplained. Couples are generally advised to seek medical help if they are unable to achieve pregnancy after a year of unprotected intercourse.

Most infertility cases – 85 to 90 percent – are treated with conventional therapies, such as drug treatment or surgical repair of reproductive organs. IVF has received a great deal of media attention since it was first introduced in 1978, but it actually accounts for less than five percent of all infertility treatment in the United States . The average cost of an IVF cycle in the United States is $12,400. In 2002, approximately one in every hundred babies born in the United States was conceived using some form of assisted reproductive technology.