Infertility in Military Women - Let’s talk about it.

A February 2020 post on War Horse, a military blog, said it all, “Why Isn’t Infertility in Military Women a Bigger Conversation?”

https://thewarhorse.org/why-isnt-infertility-in-military-women-a-bigger-conversation/

Here are some key highlights:

“Researchers have documented the infertility issues of men at higher rates: A survey of male and female combat veterans of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan found about 14% of 16,056 men surveyed and 16% of 4,314 women surveyed have dealt with infertility. A Veterans Affairs study found that male veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are more likely to experience sexual dysfunction, while a study released in April found that men with post-traumatic stress disorder have overall rates of erectile dysfunction of 85% compared to rates of 22% in veterans without PTSD….

…in 2018, one in three of the 799 veterans and current service women who responded to a 2018 Service Women’s Action Network survey said they experienced problems with infertility.

Ellen Haring, former chief executive officer of Service Women’s Action Network, SWAN, said women surveyed believed the problems were connected to exposure to toxins on deployment and on their jobs—as did the men who also called in to talk about infertility issues.”