For unfortunate young couples, getting pregnant happens when things get too hot while they are alone without adequate birth control precautions. For many couples, the ability to conceive a child can be quite elusive. Assuming your goal is to have a child, knowing the mechanics of how conception takes place in human beings can put you a little ahead of the curve. If your intent is to keep from having a child, this information can be equally important. As much as possible, this article will try to avoid deteriorating into a biology lesson.
After puberty, nearly all women have the ability to produce a child. Likewise, nearly all men have the ability to impregnate a woman. For those unlucky few, finding alternatives to having their own natural children may be the only option if they want offspring. For the rest of the population, getting pregnant works the same way for everyone with very minor variations.
A woman can only get pregnant during about 2 to 5 days of her monthly cycle. Technically, fourteen days after ovulation, a woman's menstrual bleeding should begin. Since her cycle is approximately twenty-eight days total, this means that from the start of her period, she should ovulate again in about two weeks. This can fluctuate a little depending on health and stress issues.
For a woman who wants to conceive, she should plan on having daily intercourse with her male partner during the two or three days before and after the ovulation date. Most people do not need to monitor body temperature and other options to determine when ovulation occurs. If the woman has a fairly regular cycle, within two or three months, conception will most likely occur. If other methods than intercourse are going to be used to inseminate the woman, monitoring when ovulation will occur is more important.
A number of other things have been tried to increase the chance of conceiving a baby. One of the more popular that has little evidence to prove whether it works or does not work is having the woman lay with her legs and pelvis elevated after sex to hold as much semen as possible inside her body.
Keeping a man's testicles cool during the days leading up to ovulation has been found to have a positive effect on the quantity of sperm produced. The idea is that more sperm means better odds for conception. However, if the man has a sperm count within the normal range, this should not be necessary or very effective.
Taking romantic trips and cruises during the woman's fertile period are reported to increase the conception rate. This is probably due to the more relaxed setting helping the woman's body to ovulate properly combined with increased opportunities for having intercourse.
It has not been proved that having sex with the same partner more than once per day assists in getting pregnant. Some would argue that it will lower the sperm available on subsequent days and reduce the chance of pregnancy after the first day if ovulation had not yet occurred. Having multiple male partners would make pregnancy more likely, but it could ruin a relationship.
If a pregnancy has not resulted from intercourse at the proper time after two or three months in a healthy couple, try monitoring the ovulation cycle for a month or two to pinpoint the right time for conception. If this fails after about two or three more months, it is probably time to consult a doctor. There may not be any organic reason that a baby has not been conceived, but it is best to know this sooner than later.
At this point, other options may need to be explored. If the woman has any scarring or blockage in her fallopian tubes, this will keep the sperm from reaching the egg, and the egg from reaching the uterus. Tumors on the ovaries can prevent ovulation. The man may have a low sperm count. All of these problems can be dealt with by a good doctor who specializes in conception issues.
Eggs can be harvested from the woman and fertilized with her partner's sperm outside the womb and then implanted back inside the woman. This procedure is quite expensive and often results in multiple births due to the need to insert a number of embryos in hopes of one implanting and surviving.
For a man with a low sperm count, his semen can be collected over several weeks or a few months. It can be frozen until it is ready for use. This freezing should be done by a professional. At the proper time, a large quantity of semen will be injected into the woman for artificial insemination.
Surrogates can be used if the woman is unable to carry a baby to term. Donor sperm can be used from either a known or anonymous man if the man cannot produce viable sperm for insemination. Obviously, some have ethical, psychological, and moral issues with any method of conception that is not achieved in the natural way. This becomes especially true when third parties are brought in to either carry the child or provide donor sperm or eggs.
