Tripled Infertility Found in U.S. Women Aged 20-24

Infertility among American women 20 to 24 has nearly tripled since 1965, although overall infertility among the estimated 54 million women of childbearing age--15 to 44--has not increased, according to a government-sponsored study released Sunday.

The National Center for Health Statistics estimated that the percentage of women 20 to 24 unable to conceive rose from 3.6% in 1965 to 10.6% in 1982, the year the interviews were conducted.

William D. Mosher, the author of the report, called the increase “substantial and statistically significant” and added: “This is an important age group--one of every three births occurs in mothers aged 20 to 24.”

Mosher said in an interview that the government has no data to explain the increase of infertility in this age group but suggested that a rise in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as the popularity of intrauterine devices for contraception in the last 20 years, have contributed.

“In 1965, the IUD had just been introduced and almost no one was using it. In 1982, 7% of married women under the age of 25 were using it--so the IUD can’t be the whole explanation,” Mosher said.

“There has also been an increase in the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported,” he added. “For example, gonorrhea increased from one-third of a million in 1965 to one million in 1975. I think both these factors have something to do with it. . . . “

Impairment in 4 Million

More than 4 million women of childbearing age have a physical impairment that makes it “difficult” or “impossible” for them to conceive and carry a baby to term, according to the study. Of those 4 million women, the report said, about half have never had a child. The study also found that another 4 million women, most of whom have had at least one child, have been surgically sterilized “for reasons other than the desire to limit the size of their families.”

The study said that these two groups of women make up about 16% of the total number of women of childbearing age between 15 and 44 in the United States.

In married couples, the study found 6 million who were either unable or “unlikely” to have another child. Of these couples, 1.4 million had no children. The study said that fertility problems in married couples increase with age.

For example, the report said, 48% of the couples still childless at ages 35 to 44 had “impaired fecundity”--meaning difficulty both in conceiving and carrying a baby to term--compared to 21% of couples childless at ages 25 to 34. Mosher said those findings were quite similar to the results of a survey he conducted in 1976.

In 1982, the study said, about 2.4 million couples were infertile. Of that group, 1 million were childless and 1.4 million had one child or more.

The estimates were based on personal interviews conducted among a national sample of nearly 8,000 women in five states.