Vallombrosa consensus statement on environmental contaminants and human fertility compromise.

A recent national survey indicates that 12% of the reproductive age population in the United States, or 7.3 million couples, reports experiencing difficulty conceiving and/or carrying a pregnancy to term. This is precisely termed impaired fecundity, but commonly referred to, as a general experience, as infertility. Proximate causes of infertility vary widely; for example, from impaired sperm quality or reproductive tract abnormalities, to fallopian tube obstruction, hormone/menstrual cycle irregularities and anovulation, to implantation difficulties and recurrent miscarriage. Some seek medical intervention to help them conceive, and the number of people doing so has risen sharply over the last two decades. In 2002, an estimated $2.9 billion was spent on infertility treatments in the United States. Now, some 46,000 (or one in 100) babies born to Americans each year are conceived as a result of the most advanced assisted reproductive technologies (ART).