Fertility and Infertility Articles by Ann Douglas
Misconceptions about getting pregnant.
Image: VEER/Diego Cervo
- Misconception: The Biological Clock isn't Just for Girls: Guys should be keeping an eye on the biological clock, too.
- Misconception: An Orgasm Will Help Me Conceive: Experiencing an orgasm each time she has baby-making sex may greatly increase a woman’s enthusiasm for working on Project Pregnancy, but there’s no medical or anatomical reason that a woman needs an orgasm in order to conceive.
- Misconception: You Have to Have Sex Every Day to Get Pregnant: Having sex every other day during your fertile period is more than enough.
- Misconception: If I Don't Get Pregnant Right Away, There's a Problem: Conceiving right away is anything but the norm, despite what most of us think.
- Misconception: I Don't Have to Worry About Getting Pregnant Because I've Been Pregnant Before: Mother Nature doesn’t operate a reproductive frequent flier program that guarantees you a seat on the next flight to Planet Pregnancy just because you’ve been pregnant before.
- Misconception: Getting Pregnant is Simply a Matter of Good Timing: Trying to time intercourse for the 12 to 24 hour window of opportunity when the egg is capable of being fertilized isn’t your best reproductive strategy.
- Misconception: Just Relax and You'll Get Pregnant: The best stress management techniques in the world won’t cure a bona fide fertility problem.
- Misconception: Every Woman Ovulates on Day 14 of Her Menstrual Cycle: Mother Nature is a bit more mysterious than that. She ties your ovulation day in this cycle to the first day of your next menstrual period.
- Misconception: Women Make New Eggs Each Cycle: While males set up an in-body manufacturing operation to meet ongoing demand for sperm, females employ a different egg-readiness strategy. They pack all the eggs they’re going to need for their entire reproductive journey before they’re even born.
- Misconception: A Low Sperm Count is No Big Deal. It Only Takes One to Fertilize An Egg, Right?: Wrong. It takes an entire team of sperm to get the job done.
- Misconception: Microwave Radiation Can Harm Fertility: Go ahead and make that popcorn. “Microwave radiation is not the same as harmful, cancer-causing radiation,” explains University of Toronto physicist Jason Harlow, Ph.D.
Other Articles About Trying to Conceive
- 7 Ways to Increase Your Odds of Conceiving: Tips for giving Mother Nature a nudge when you are trying to get pregnant.
- Fertility Tips: What you can do to increase your odds of conceiving quickly.
- Ways to Cope with Secondary Infertility: How to cope with the worry and frustration of secondary infertility.
- Canadian Sperm Donor Laws Need an Update: Monique Shebbeare was 37 and single when she decided she was ready to have a baby. The first step on her reproductive to do list? Researching sperm donors.
- Babies and toxins: Author Joel Bakan says parents should demand accountability from corporations.
Ann Douglas is the author of The Mother of All Pregnancy Books and numerous other books about pregnancy and parenting.