When a woman is trying to get pregnant, a doctor can only do so much. There is only so much timing, patience, and tests that a woman can go through (and her own doctor can administer) before additional medical intervention is necessary. This is where fertility clinics — which provide attention, tests, and services from specialized doctors — become absolutely necessary. But how accessible are fertility services for women? From numbers based on a new report, the statistics are pretty shocking.
A new report, published in the journal of Fertility & Sterility, found that almost 25 million women who are of the reproductive age don't live near a single fertility clinic. This is a problem — when a woman does not live near a place that offers fertility services, it severely limits her reproductive rights, and most importantly, the option for her to become pregnant. To put this into perspective, according to The Cut, "nearly 40 percent of reproductive-age women across the country either have limited or no access" to fertility clinics across the country. This limited access is a common or significant burden, according to the report, to the many women in the nation who need the assistance of treatments that only fertility clinics can provide.
It's not uncommon for women to need assistance or help from infertility treatment centers. According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, 7.5 million women in the United States between the ages of 15 to 44 have an impaired ability to get pregnant or carry a baby to term. Out of these women in this age group, according to the CDC, 6.9 million of them have used infertility services. For these reasons, it is so important that women in the United States have access to a clinic, especially if a good amount of them are using infertility services. In fact, according to CNN, a 2014 report from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, found that more women have used in vitro fertilization to help them get pregnant, than ever before. IVF is just one of the many services fertility clinics can provide to those who are of the reproductive age.
According to the study, the authors hope that these issues surrounding this lack of access to fertility clinics and services should lead to increased awareness to infertility and the shocking lack of clinics in the United States. Fertility services provide a great amount of help for women experiencing issues with infertility. Unfortunately, in the United States, access to clinics to help these women is incredibly limited.
