Medical science, in the past, has studied the correlation between advanced maternal age and the decline of ovarian reserve and function. A correlation was established between the two and has, for decades, been referenced as the primary cause for infertility in women over 35. It is said that due to time and age in general, the quality of human female eggs declines and the likelihood of chromosomal abnormalities increases, as does the reduced amount of eggs released by the body.

Medical practitioners such as OBGYN, reproductive endocrinologists and artificial reproductive physicians all typically assume that infertility of advanced maternal age most commonly just because of age. Or, is either due to hormonal imbalances, microbiome imbalances, physical abnormalities of the reproductive organs, disease such as endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), rejection of foreign fetal material, genetic trait issues or infection of the reproductive organs. These specialists do their best to determine which, if any, is the cause of infertility. Because of this standard assumption in the medical field, for women seeking to become pregnant over 40, this becomes extremely difficult.  

What we continue to see in many cases, however, is that many women experiencing infertility have none of those common causes. So we end up seeing an ever increasing trend in “unexplained infertility”. Which then gets chalked up and written off as “age related infertility” because there is no other explanation that has been diagnosable.

The concern with this thought process is that there is also an alarming increase in the number of younger “healthy” women that are also being diagnosed with unexplained infertility. In which, age could not be used as the concluded cause of the infertility.

Women of advanced maternal age have been shown that they can, in fact, be very fertile well into age 50. There are many women that birth children over 40 and 50 with no problems at all. While there may be some indications of declining ovarian reserve, they are still clearly fertile and able to produce healthy eggs.

We are also seeing an increase in women of all ages needing artificial reproductive technologies (IVF and IUI). Many of these women are able to grow and retrieve genetically normal euploid embryos, but the transfer of those normal embryos fails. Often times, there are repeated failures of euploid embryo transfers with no explanation why. The patient may have absolutely no indication of health issues, genetic issues nor reproductive issues, yet they are unable to successfully carry and maintain the pregnancy of a euploid embryo, even with all medical interventions. Some women fail to achieve implantation (that we are aware of) and some women achieve implantation that later results in miscarriage. This leaves many women asking “Why did my euploid embryo transfer fail?”

This could raise the question that the failure is not actually related to age or the quality of the embryo, but rather something in the maternal environment, making it inhospitable for an embryo and possibly prematurely reducing ovarian reserve.

With ever increasing studies indicating that our daily lifestyles are exposing us to chemicals, heavy metals, micro and nano-plastics, and that all three have negative health implications, it is time we take a closer look at the possible correlation of exposure and infertility. The toxins are now found nearly everywhere… in our drinking water, the food we eat, household cleaning products, hygiene products, cosmetics, fragrances, soil, rain and air. What’s worse is that recent studies have shown that nearly every person tested in the study contains some amount of these toxins.

The information that we currently have regarding human toxicity and these toxins is very limited. The manufacturers of these chemicals and plastics perform minimal short term studies to determine what dangers are imposed with human exposure. And historically, manufacturers have been deceptive and dishonest when a chemical or plastic was deemed unsafe by their private researchers. So out of all the products that pose an exposure risk, how do we truly know what is safe?

There have been very few quality studies into the impact of environmental exposures on the fertility of humans. Some studies have begun to indicate that there may be a significant correlation between negative environmental exposures and infertility, as well as health in general. Specifically, a correlation between toxic chemical exposure, heavy metal exposure and nanoplastic exposure. All of which end up in the blood stream and can be passed through to the placenta and ultimately the fetus. Correlations have already been made to these exposures, miscarriage and infertility, although it is still sparsely studied. Most are also known endocrine disruptors.

A study by Manikkam et al. (2012) in the Journal of Reproductive Toxicology highlighted the transgenerational effects of environmental toxins, indicating that exposure can affect reproductive health across generations. Furthermore, a review by Caserta et al. (2013) in the Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part C: Environmental Carcinogenesis and Ecotoxicology Reviews detailed how endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) could adversely affect female reproductive health. For instance, Buck Louis et al. (2013), in a study published in Fertility and Sterility, examined the association between persistent environmental pollutants and couple fecundity, revealing significant correlations.

Mounting evidence shows that exposure to these toxins in human females and males can have serious impacts on health and fertility. They are now known to cause neulogical disease, inflammatory diseases, fetal abnormalities, miscarriage, mental disabilities and more. What’s more, is that all three of these environmental exposures bioaccumulate in humans. The higher the exposure and levels, the worse the impact is on health and fertility. And unfortunately, the human body is not efficient and removing these types of toxins.

The case of younger women diagnosed with “unexplained infertility” raises questions about the sufficiency of current diagnostic frameworks. It suggests a potential oversight in considering the cumulative effects of environmental toxins on reproductive health. The increased reliance on assisted reproductive technologies (ART), such as IVF and IUI, further highlights the complexity of infertility issues and the limitations of attributing them solely to age or recognizable medical conditions.

This leads to the questions:

Why aren’t scientists doing more studies to determine how widespread these exposures are and how this impacts fertility in humans? Why aren’t they working to determine how badly these exposures might be leading us towards a massive decline in human fertility? And how do we prevent these exposures, remove the contaminants from our bodies, and repair the physical damage done by them?

Why aren’t fertility related physicians testing men and women with suspected infertility for their level of exposures to these toxins? Especially when the physician is unable to determine any other common cause for the infertility. It should be standard to have blood tests checking what the levels of manmade chemicals, heavy metals and nanoplastics are in patients.

This should be done now because this is a great way to study correlations between infertility and these levels of toxins. Determining a common relation between infertility patients and these toxins could pave the way for scientists to discover methods for prevention and repair.

One medical study, Effect of Plasma and Blood Donations on Levels of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Firefighters in Australia, observed a group of firefighters, known for high exposure to toxic chemicals in their line of work and if blood donation had an impact in reducing the levels of toxins in the body. The study shows that regular blood donation resulted in a significant reduction in toxic load in the blood. Which indicated that some form of removal of blood for the purpose of letting the body create clean new blood, could be a means to reduce toxin load and hypothetically improve fertility.

The body is quite effective at healing damage. The hope is that by lessening the mount of toxins in the body, that the body can heal any damage done by the toxins. Or at least reduce symptoms and the inflammatory state. Thus creating a healthier environment for human eggs and sperm and resulting in higher quality and quantity of both. Particularly, the reduction of toxin loads could improve the maternal environment by providing a healthier blood source for an implanting fetus and potentially reduce the risk of implantation failures, miscarriages and fetal abnormalities.

The study of these correlations could possibly lead to the realization that maternal age plays less of a role in infertility than believed. It may actually be that bioaccumulation of toxins over time is the real reason why we see increasing infertility as age increases. The toxin burden will exponentially increase negative medical implications over time, thus increasing the risk of infertility. Which again, could explain why some women of advanced age are more fertile than others. It could be the difference in toxin loads.

And with that realization, it may be possible, with damage control and prevention, to raise the bar of when age related infertility comes into play.

We need to spread awareness of these correlations and encourage physicians and scientists to pay more attention to these infertility factors. We need to teach patients of these possible issues and encourage them to demand testing for these toxins.

Treatment solutions for people with high toxin loads need to be created. While there are heavy metal chelation and detoxification treatments when the levels are severely high, there really are no other available treatments for high exposures to toxic chemicals and plastics. The only method that I am aware of at this time, is blood donation. It seems to me that the answer might be regular treatments to remove old blood and allow the body to create clean new blood. As this would remove all three toxin types simultaneously.

This concept aligns with findings from Kim et al. (2015) in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, which investigated the effects of blood lead levels on male and female fertility, suggesting that reducing lead exposure could enhance reproductive health.

In the meantime, since most medical practitioners and scientists are not taking the relation between toxin exposures and infertility seriously, are not testing for these toxins and are not proving a reasonable resolution when burden exists… patients are left to find their own solutions. My recommendation, if you are struggling with infertility and all other tests and studies indicate you are healthy, have your blood tested for toxic chemical exposure (manmade chemicals, forever chemicals, PFOAs, pesticides, herbicides, etc), toxic heavy metals (mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, etc) and microplastics and nano plastics. If you find that you have any amount of these in your system, try regular blood donation. If you cannot afford or do not have availability of these tests, try blood donation. Try it as many times as possible, then retest your blood and try to conceive again.

It is also important to practice prevention of exposure and awareness of our surroundings.