Infertility issues can be addressed in a variety of ways, expert says

FOX 2 - Infertility can impact both women and men. In general, it's defined as the inability to get pregnant after a year of trying.

Big picture view:

Causes can vary and treatments often feel endless and expensive. The good news is, there are a lot of options. If you know anyone who has struggled with inferlity you know there is a huge emotional toll. 

"They're dealing with emotional difficulty in life, you hear stories of how it impacted work, their family, how it impacted their social well-being," said Dr. Ali Bazzi. "It's more than just procedures or treatment. There's a lot that goes into it, in an emotional standpoint.

Doctor Bazzi is the medical director at the new Michigan Fertility Institute in Livonia. He says it's never too early to start  figuring out a fertility plan - because age can start to impact a woman's fertility in her 30s.

"Age especially for our female population, is a detriment for fertility," he said. "We see an inverse or a significant decline with age, especially from a female perspective, the egg quality and the egg count. This goes back to the point where it's never too early to have this conversation."

What you can do:

Infertility can be diagnosed with exams, blood tests and even ultrasound. Treatment options range from medication to insemination to invitro fertilization - that's fertilizing eggs outside the body.

And with all the options, Bazzi says there is always hope.

"There are many ways to build a family. It (doesn't always include) IVF, or any of the procedures we offer," he said. 
"Sometimes adoption, we also have surrogacy, there are donor eggs, donor sperm. So there's many different ways to build a family and that all depends on the individual's way of life, or relationship status."

One of the big barriers to infertility treatment is cost. In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to recommond expanding access to invitro fertilization.

However, the CDC team that researches IVF was subsequently included in the government layoffs. So the advice is, don't wait on policy to change if you're looking for answers.