Declining estimates of infertility in the United States: 1982–2002

ObjectiveTo determine if the decline in infertility has been uniform across subgroups.DesignPeriodic data from the National Fertility Survey and the National Survey of Family Growth were used to determine which factors contributed to the decline in 12-month infertility in the United States.SettingNational Survey of Family Growth, a periodic US nationally representative study.Patient(s)A nationally representative sample of married women aged 15–44 years, N = 15,303 for pooled data across 4 survey years.Intervention(s)None.Main Outcome Measure(s)Estimates of infertility prevalence among married women aged 15–44 years.Result(s)The decline in 12-month infertility in the United States from 8.5% in 1982 and 7.4% in 2002 was significant. This decline was evident in nearly all subgroups of married women. In the multivariate analysis, 12-month infertility was more likely among women who were older and nulliparous, were non-Hispanic black or Hispanic, and did not have a college degree. The decline in 12-month infertility was observed even after controlling for the compositional differences of the population over time.Conclusion(s)Among married women in the United States, there has been a significant decline in 12-month infertility, which cannot be explained by changes in the composition of the population from 1982–2002.