DENVER (KDVR) — According to the World Health Organization, about one in six people in the world experience infertility issues.

Castle Rock mom Rebeckah Navitsky is in that group.

“We tried for almost eight years,” she said. “I didn’t know that I had these underlying issues. I had endometriosis and adenomyosis and PCOS,” or polycystic ovary syndrome.

Navitsky is so glad that she sought medical help in her late 30s and now she and her husband are an in vitro fertilization success story.

“We had our first son in April of 2021, and we are expecting our second son in May,” she said.

For fertility, ‘age matters a lot’

But she is shocked by the WHO report and the number of other people worldwide who also have trouble getting pregnant.

“Age matters a lot,” said Dr. Sara Barton, a fertility doctor at CCRM and Rose Medical Center.

“Given what I do day in and day out and what I see in the clinic, I believe that the majority of that is driven by people waiting longer to have families,” Barton said.

Since the data suggest a global issue, Barton questions how much the environment actually factors in.

“I think there’s actually some reassurance there, that this is a global universal problem. It isn’t something about the food we eat or the way we move our bodies or the products that we use,” she said.

What can be done to help with infertility?

Dr. Barton has a few key takeaways, 

“I think society making it possible for people to have children younger is ideal,” she said. 

Plus, she hopes to see expanded access to fertility treatments and insurance coverage. A single round of IVF can cost $20,000 to $30,000.

The Colorado Building Families Act requires that health plans issued or renewed in Colorado must cover diagnosis of infertility, treatment of infertility and fertility preservation.

However, that does not include a lot of residents.