Female infertility, active component service women, U.S. Armed Forces, 2000-2012

Infertility is the inability to become pregnant after one year of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse. Among active component service women, 16,807 received a diagnosis of female infertility during the 13-year surveillance period. The incidence rate of infertility diagnoses increased during the period, mainly due to increasing rates of infertility of unspecified origin. Infertility of tubal origin and anovulation were the most common specified types of infertility. Incidence rates of infertility were highest among women in their thirties; however, rates increased the most in women in their forties. Black, non-Hispanic women had the highest rates of infertility overall and in infertility of tubal and uterine origin. The higher rates among women in their thirties and forties may reflect high and increasing rates of clinical care seeking for infertility among women who elect to delay pregnancy until older ages and an increase in treatment options for women who have been unable to become pregnant.