Infertility: It's Happened Throughout History

t seems like life often has a funny way of being predictable. The majority of people get married and have children. Of course, there are some people who don't actually follow that predictable path. There are those who have no interest in getting married or having children.

There are some people who, despite the marriage issue, would like to have children but are faced with infertility issues. What kinds of infertility issues would a woman have to cope with? If she has a medical condition such as endometriosis, she might have to have her uterus removed. She might have a low egg count, or she might have been born with a problem.

Men also face infertility issues. Because of various drug treatments or medical conditions, they might have erectile dysfunction, or low sperm count. Whatever the reason, generally those who are not able to have children feel inadequate. Really, though, they should not, because there are significant personalities in history who have had their own infertility problems.

Take, for example, the British monarchy. They duty is to produce heirs to the throne. While they have been able to successfully reproduce lately, there was one woman who stopped the Tudor succession in the 16th century: Elizabeth I. Of course, she did not have children because she wished to remain unmarried.

Historians have debated, whether she in fact was unable to have children, and if that was part of her reason for not getting married. Yet other historians have argued that she was against marriage because of the emotional trauma she suffered when her father, Henry VIII, beheaded her mother, Anne Boleyn.

Yet, there is another theory about Elizabeth I. If you were to look at the portraits that were painted of her in life, you would note the heavy makeup. Historians have said that she wore this heavy makeup to hide the scarring left by an attack of smallpox she suffered. Smallpox, though now not the major issue that it was, was a particularly virulent disease, which might have rendered her unable to have children.

In the United States, there is no greater hero than George Washington. This Revolutionary War hero and first U.S. president has endless monuments dedicated to him. Even if he had slept in a house just for one night, there is usually a plaque on the house that says something to the effect of "George Washington slept here".

George seemed to have it all. He was handsome, revered, and modest. George had married a widow named Martha Custis. She came into the marriage with her own children, which George raised almost as his own. However, the great George Washington never had children of his own, because he had virility problems.

Is George remembered for that? Certainly not; his numerous other successes have far eclipsed that issue. Regardless, it probably bothered him much as it bothers men today with that problem. However, modern men have opportunities that George didn't. There are ways that they can still become parents, thanks to technological advances in medicine.