10/17/2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/parenting/fertility-pregnancy-phthalates-toxic-chemicals.html
This Chemical Can Impair Fertility, but It’s Hard to Avoid
Hormone-disrupting phthalates can be found in everything from plastics and household goods to personal care products. Studies have shown they may be harmful to women’s reproductive systems.
By Liza Gross
Published Aug. 25, 2020
Updated Sept. 13, 2021
This is the first article in a three-part series by investigative reporter Liza Gross, exploring the most dangerous toxins found in the average American home. The stories track fertility, pregnancy and early childhood development.
Kaci Aitchison Boyle always thought getting pregnant would be easy: just plan some romantic evenings and let nature take its course. So when Boyle and her husband decided to start a family in 2011, she expected to be snuggling a newborn by year’s end.
Boyle, then 32, ditched the birth control pills she had started taking as a teenager to regulate her “incredibly irregular” and painful periods, thinking it might take a while to start menstruating again. Instead, her wildly erratic schedule returned. She tried every ovulation test she could find to predict fertile days, but none worked for her.
After about eight months without a positive pregnancy test, Boyle sought help from her doctor. She learned she had polycystic o***y syndrome (PCOS), the most common cause of female infertility. A healthy woman has about a 1 in 5 chance of getting pregnant every month until age 32, when the odds begin to decline. PCOS, a health condition marked by excess androgen hormones and irregular menstrual cycles, reduces those odds by impairing ovaries’ ability to release eggs. That meant Boyle would likely have a harder time getting pregnant than other women her age.
Clearly, a woman can’t get pregnant naturally with her own eggs if she doesn’t ovulate, but what’s less clear is what causes PCOS and other conditions that reduce fertility.
Hormone-disrupting phthalates can be found in everything from plastics and household goods to personal care products. Studies have shown they may be harmful to women’s reproductive systems.
