7 Common Fertility Beliefs That Are Totally Wrong

How often do you turn to your mom for medical advice? What about Dr. Google?

You know you’re guilty of it! Most women are: A new study found that 42 percent of women use the Web as a preferred source of information about fertility, while plenty of others rely on advice from family members.

Unfortunately, neither your mom nor the Internet have a fact-checker and all too often the advice we hear from these sources are completely wrong.

Below are seven of the most commonly believed misconceptions about fertility. Be sure to read through them and educate fellow women trying to conceive!

Myth: Most couples can conceive as soon as they try to get pregnant

If you’ve been trying to conceive for more than a few months, it can feel pretty lonely. You might start believing that everyone around you is getting pregnant on the first try by simply snapping their fingers. In reality, about 1 in 7 couples will struggle to get pregnant. Furthermore, even couples at the very peak fertility only have a 25 percent chance of conceiving each cycle — max. Most couples that have difficulty conceiving have even lower chances of getting pregnant each month. The good news?

Myth: More fertility issues are caused by the female partner than the male partner

According to Resolve, The National Infertility Association, men are just as likely as women to be the primary cause of a couple's infertility. One-third of infertility cases are attributed to the female partner, one-third are attributed to the male partner, and one-third is a combination of issues involving both partners.

Myth: Women continue to make more eggs until menopause

A recent study revealed that 40 percent of participants believed that “ovaries continue to produce new eggs during reproductive years.” In actuality, a woman is born with all of the eggs she'll ever have — about one to two million. Many of these eggs are used up even before your reproductive years begin, so even though it sounds like you have a lot, you're really working with a limited supply. 

Myth: The best time to have sex for conception is after ovulation has occurred

Do you know when to get busy? A majority of women believe that intercourse timed after ovulation is the best way to maximize the chance of conception. Unfortunately that's totally wrong. In reality, your best chance to conceive is in the four days just BEFORE you ovulate. Your chances to conceive start to drop quickly starting the day after ovulation — so if you use BBT or and OPK to predict ovulation, don't wait until you get a positive test to start trying.

Myth: The number of times you have sex per day will either help or hurt you

Many believe that having sex more than once per day will increase the likelihood of conception. Others believe that having too much sex decreases a man’s potency. Neither of these are true! What’s really important is the timing of your sex —  just be sure to have sex for the four days leading up to (and including) the day of ovulation.

Myth: Unless you’ve gone through menopause, you’ll be able to conceive

The chance to conceive decreases with age. Even though most women won’t go through menopause until their 50s, by 44, women only have a 1.6 percent chance of conceiving— and that’s years before menopause. If you're trying to conceive in your 40's, now's the time to take action to make sure that you're maximizing every chance to conceive. 

Myth: Your overall health doesn’t have anything to do with your fertility

Contrary to popular belief, indicators of overall health such as weight, sleep, diet, whether or not you smoke, how much you drink, thyroid issues, the medications you take, and the regularity of your cycle all have huge impacts on your ability to conceive. 

What you can do

One of the best things you can do as you go through the process of trying to conceive is to educate yourself on fertility. Now that you know the truth about these seven fertility myths, you can feel more confident and prepared as you enter your next cycle of baby-making.

Conceivable can help you identify which areas might be affecting your ability to conceive and can help build a plan to address them. To learn how our program can help you realize your best chance of getting pregnant, find out more about the Conceivable Program.

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