Can infertility cause female sexual dysfunction?

Infertile women are more likely to suffer from female sexual dysfunction, says one study. Researchers from Stanford University found that 40% of infertile women suffered with sexual dysfunction in comparison to 25% for other women. Symptoms included a low sex drive and desire for sexual intercourse and masturbation. Experts feel that stress could partly be to blame. It can be incredibly stressful for a woman who wants to conceive, but is unable to, and stress is a known trigger for female sexual dysfunction. Other factors may also also be responsible, but it will take more research into the links between infertility and FSD in order for these to be discovered.

There is a lot more that experts have to learn about female sexual dysfunction. It’s a relatively ‘young’ condition – not in terms of how long women have experienced it, but in terms of how long it has been recognised and acknowledged by clinicians.

Recently it has been proposed that the condition could be redefined, following complaints that the current definition is not holistic enough. Critics say it needs to be reworked to take into account the wider situations that women might be facing; for instance, whether their sexual dysfunction is being caused by problems in their home or work lives. This debate ties in well with the questions about infertility and how it is linked to FSD.

Overall it seems that a greater analysis of the condition is needed. While erectile dysfunction in men is widely discussed and recognised, the female equivalent still seems to reside in the dark. The same can be said for treatment availability, although progress is being made. At the moment drug giants Boehringer Ingelheim are preparing for the potential launch of their ‘female Viagra’ drug Filbanserin in 2011, which is hinging on approval from authorities.