The reasons behind infertility often differ from one person to the next, with many factors such as age, hormones and body composition considered.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have suggested that blood type plays a part in this. Said it has been discovered that women who have the blood type O were two times more probable to have elevated levels of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH). This hormone informs the ovaries to manufacture eggs and rises as a woman’s egg reserve dwindles. When infertility is on the decrease, high FSH levels might be the reason why.

According to the Red Cross, 37% of all Caucasians possess O positive type blood when compared to 47% of African Americans, 39% of Asians and 53% of Hispanics. So what can be done to avoid this problem? After all, we have no choice about what blood type we are born with.

Medical science previously answered one more blood type trouble. Mothers who are Rh negative, which indicates that these women do not have a particular protein on their red blood cells and that their letter blood type ends with a negative, but then conceive with an Rh-positive man can develop sensitisation to their baby’s blood if the child inherits an Rh-positive blood type from their father.

The result of this is that the foremost pregnancy is fine, but further “Rh positive” conceptions can mean that the mother’s body sees the baby’s blood as an invader which results in the destruction of the baby’s red blood cells. The baby could suffer from anaemia, mental retardation, heart failure or even jaundice. Rh compatibility in the past exterminated 10,000 babies every year but thanks to the development of the RhoGam (Rh immune globulin) shot which removes the threat of a mother’s blood becoming sensitised to an Rh positive baby’s blood it is uncommon for a little one to die from Rh compatibility complications. The shot is usually given when the mother is 28 weeks pregnant and within 72 hours of giving birth.

So, if you do not know your blood type, the best way to find out is to donate blood. Or, if not, there is always your trusty doctor.