For some couples, the desire for a second born has never been achieved.

It’s called secondary sterility, a situation where a woman can no longer become pregnant even after she has already had a successful birth before. While a lot of women suffer from this, many do not know because it is assumed impossible to become sterile after you have the first child.

However, Dr Justus Okumu says that “A successful pregnancy does not always mean that other pregnancies are also possible without problems.”

Till now, there are no official studies that expound on this phenomenon. However, some of the common medical reasons given is a limited quality of male sperm and hormonal imbalance.

Age also plays a role in secondary sterility. Once at thirty, the natural fertility decreases for both men and women.

Other factors include:

Endometriosis which causes inflammation that makes fertilization difficult. Fibroids too can hinder pregnancy by preventing implantation of the egg.

There are various methods currently being used to enhance fertility for couples suffering from secondary fertility.

If caused by hormonal imbalance, an individually adapted hormone therapy could be used to replace the problematic hormones in the woman.

Artificial insemination where the sperms are introduced into the uterus artificially is also an option or vitro fertilization that occurs outside the body.

According to Dr Okumu if a couple tries and fails to get a child 12 months after the birth of their first child, then they should immediately seek medical advice. He says, “The earlier we discover what is causing the secondary sterilization, the faster we solve the problem. Couple’s suffering from secondary sterility should seek medical advice if they have tried and failed to get a child twelve months after getting their first baby.”