Why Can’t I Get Pregnant 11 Possible Reasons
Rachel Gurevich is a fertility advocate, author, and recipient of The Hope Award for Achievement, from Resolve: The National Infertility Association. She is a professional member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and has been writing about womens health since 2001. Rachel uses her own experiences with infertility to write compassionate, practical, and supportive articles.
Brian Levine, MD, MS, FACOG, is board-certified in obstetrics-gynecology, as well as reproductive endocrinology and infertility . He is the director and founding partner of CCRM New York and was named a rising star by Super Doctors from 2017 to 2019.
If you’ve been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, you may be wondering, “Why am I not getting pregnant?” You could be worrying that you never will. However, there are many possible reasons why you aren’t conceiving, including ovulation irregularities, structural problems in the reproductive system, low sperm count, underlying medical problems, or simply not trying enough.
While infertility can have symptoms like irregular periods or severe menstrual cramps, most causes of infertility are silent. Male infertility, for example, rarely has symptoms. Here are 11 possible reasons you haven’t conceived yet.
Can I Get Pregnant Any Time Of The Month
When we ovulate, we typically release only one egg in a month and it is during that time that we are able to become pregnant. Most experts agree that if the egg is not fertilized within a 24 hour period it will dissolve. Once the egg is gone you are unable to get pregnant. You will not be fertile again until after your next period.
Sam was a young teen when she started the pill. She felt frustrated that she, like so many of us, wasn’t taught about her body, her hormones, or how her menstrual cycle works.
I was upset that I was so young and that no one taught me about ovulation and how you can only technically get pregnant only during one time of the month. When you’re a teen you’re taught you can get pregnant any day, she said. She felt angry and betrayed, especially as she began to learn what the pill had been doing to her body over 8 years.
I can relate to Sam’s feelings of frustration. It wasnt until I got into medical school that I came to understand that I couldnt just pregnant any day out of the month. I was upset that I had been taking a pill every day when I only ovulated one day.
But so many of us are taught we can get pregnant any day out of the month. Or we arent taught at all about ovulation and what are the signs that we are fertile.
The answer to this question is, no. You can not get pregnant any day of the month.
Can A Girl Get Pregnant If She Has Sex During Her Period
Can a girl get pregnant if she has sex during her period? Jamie*
Yes, a girl can get pregnant during her period. This might happen when:
- A girl has bleeding that she thinks is a period, but it’s bleeding from . Ovulation is the monthly release of an egg from a girls ovaries. It is the time when she is most likely to get pregnant if she has sex.
- Ovulation happens before the bleeding from a girl’s period has stopped.
- Ovulation happens within a few days after a girl’s period is over. Sperm can fertilize an egg for 3 days. So if a girl has sex on the last day of her period and ovulates in the next few days, the sperm may still fertilize the egg.
Having unprotected sex at any time is risky. Along with the risk of getting pregnant, you could also get an STD, such as chlamydia, genital warts, or HIV. The only way to completely prevent pregnancy and STDs is abstinence .
If you do have sex, use a condom every time to protect against unplanned pregnancy and STDs. For added protection, many couples use condoms along with another method of birth control, like birth control pills or an IUD. Talk to your doctor about the best type of birth control for you.
*Names have been changed to protect user privacy.
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How To Get A Woman Pregnant
This article was co-authored by Joshua U. Klein, MD, FACOG and by wikiHow staff writer, Amy Bobinger. Dr. Joshua U. Klein is a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist, an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the Co-Founder of Extend Fertility. He specializes in IVF, egg freezing, infertility, fertility preservation, artificial insemination, and treating polycystic ovarian syndrome . Dr. Klein has been published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals such as Science, Fertility and Sterility, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. He holds a BA in English from Yeshiva University and an MD from Harvard Medical School.There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 3,713,152 times.
If you and your partner want to get pregnant, you might be wondering what you can do to help. While most methods of improving fertility tend to focus on tracking a cisgender woman’s cycle, as a cisgender man, you can take steps that may improve your sperm count. There’s no way to guarantee that you and your partner will conceive, but there are things you can do to increase the odds!
Your Chances Of Getting Pregnant Right After Your Period
If you’re trying to get pregnant, you’ll want to start having sex after your period ends for optimal chances of conceiving, says Kelly Pagidas, M.D., a fertility specialist formerly with Women & Infants Center for Reproduction and Infertility in Providence, Rhode Island.
For most people, “I recommend having sex frequentlytwo to three times a week, but every other day if you canshortly after you stop menstruating to cover your window of pre-ovulation,” she explains.
Here’s why: Sometime after your period ends, you may notice a change in vaginal discharge. This change doesn’t mean the egg has been released, but it does indicate that your body is preparing for ovulation by producing cervical mucus that offers a friendly environment for sperm. As you approach ovulation, cervical mucus will gradually change from more dry and sticky to pasty or creamy and finally to clear and stretchy, like the quality of raw egg whites. You may also notice an increase in the amount of discharge.
Your chances of conceiving: Low to medium. An egg isn’t technically released during this phase, but having sperm in place and sustained by fertile cervical mucus can be helpful in the event that you ovulate earlier than expected.
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What Can I Do To Get Pregnant Faster
You can increase your chances of becoming pregnant if you time intercourse for the day of or the days before.
detect the surge of a hormone called LH which peaks 24 36 hours prior to ovulation. Using an ovulation test as soon as you start trying to conceive will help you understand your menstrual cycle and quickly identify any cycle length irregularities. While an ovulation test may not be able to remove your stress completely, it can give you confidence that you are maximising your chances of getting pregnant.
Clearblue Ovulation Tests are at least 99% accurate at detecting your LH surge.
If after three you have not detected ovulation , we would advise you to see your doctor.
Using Ovulation Predictor Kits
Ovulation predictor kits are available from chemists and are fairly simple to use. They work by detecting a hormone in your urine that increases when ovulation is about to take place.
The simplest urine kit tests for luteinising hormone , which increases 24-36 hours before ovulation. This will help to identify the best two days for conception, although a woman can be fertile for a day or so before and after this time.
It is best to become familiar with your usual menstrual cycle to help figure out when you should start testing. If you have an irregular cycle then an ovulation predictor kit can help you identify the time of ovulation but expect to use more of the test strips.
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How Do People Get Pregnant With Twins
There are 2 ways that twins can happen. Identical twins are made when 1 already-fertilized egg splits into 2 separate embryos. Because identical twins come from the same sperm and egg, they have the same genetic material and look exactly alike.
Non-identical twins , are made when two separate eggs are fertilized by two separate sperm, and both fertilized eggs implant in the uterus. This can happen if your ovaries release more than one egg, or during certain kinds of fertility treatments. Non-identical twins have completely different genetic material , and usually dont look alike. Theyre the most common type of twin.
Chances Of Conceiving At Each Phase Of Your Menstrual Cycle
Even though most women ovulate well after their period ends, cycle length and ovulation can vary widely from person to person and even cycle to cycle.
Because it is unlikely that an egg will be released during or soon after your period, there is little to no chance that sperm introduced during your period will result in a pregnancy.
However, it is possible to get pregnant if you have sex around the time of when period and you ovulate very soon after your period ends. Despite the low chances, if you are trying to avoid pregnancy, it is still best to use contraception.
Also, having sex right after your period ends leads to low chances of getting pregnant. An egg is not technically released during this phase but having sperm in the correct place can be helpful if you ovulate earlier than expected.
According to doctors, just before and during your ovulation is the best time to conceive as that is when an egg is released and ready to be fertilized. After ovulation, you only have about one day for the egg to be fertilized.
Once your ovulation is over, the final portion of your cycle beings. Also known as the luteal phase, during this time, progesterone starts to rise. Your cervical mucus will dry up, which makes the vaginal tract less friendly to sperm.
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Record Menstrual Cycle Frequency
A woman who wants to have a baby should monitor the intervals between her periodsin other words, whether the first day of her period tends to occur the same number of days apart every month, which is considered regular. Conversely, her periods may be irregular, meaning her cycle lengths vary from month to month. By tracking this information on a calendar, a woman can better predict when she might be ovulating , according to research published in The New England Journal of Medicine . This is the time every month when her ovaries will release an egg. There are also some apps that can help with the tracking, such as GlowOvulation period tracker .
A woman’s egg is fertile for only 12 to 24 hours after its release, while a man’s sperm can survive in a woman’s body for up to five days according to the American Pregnancy Association .
Any Insulin Resistance Reverse It
Women with PCOS often struggle with insulin resistance, which results in high blood sugar and insulin levels and increases the likelihood that they may experience conceiving difficulties. Doctors can prescribe metformin to help, but there are a lot of adverse effects to be aware of. In the beginning, try eliminating sugar and processed carbohydrates from your diet and ensuring you receive enough protein, fibre, and healthy fats. Also Read –Coronary Artery Disease: Whats New In The Treatment Of Heart Disease
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What Are Fertility Awareness Methods
Fertility awareness methods are ways that people can track their monthly menstrual cycles and identify their least fertile days.
People who do not wish to become pregnant can then plan to have sex on those days. They may also wish to avoid having vaginal sex or use birth control on the days they identify as particularly fertile.
FAMs are also sometimes known as natural family planning or the rhythm method.
There are different types of FAMs that people can use to identify their most and least fertile days. Some people use just one, while others use a combination of the following.
Can You Get Pregnant At Any Age
By | Sept. 1, 2010, 3:43 p.m.
Category:
can you get pregnant at any age?
A woman becomes able to get pregnant when she ovulates for the first time about 14 days before her first menstrual period. This happens to some women as early as when they are eight years old, or even earlier. Most often, ovulation begins before women turn 20. On average, it first happens when a girl is between 12 and 13.
Its important for young women to know that their first ovulation will happen before their first period. This means that a young woman can become pregnant from vaginal intercourse before her first period.
Ovulation stops happening in womens lives when theyre older. The last ovulation in a womans life is called menopause. Menopause can happen as early as when a woman is 40. But the average age for menopause is 51.
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Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. is a registered 501 nonprofit under EIN 13-1644147. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable under the law.
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Will It Be A Boy Or Girl
Both the man’s sperm and the woman’s egg play a part in determining the gender of a baby.
Every normal human cell contains 46 chromosomes . Chromosomes are tiny threadlike structures made from DNA, which each carry human genes. Genes determine a baby’s inherited characteristics, such as hair and eye colour, blood group, height and build.
When a sperm fertilises an egg, 23 chromosomes from the father pair with 23 from the mother, making 46 in total.
The sex chromosome from a woman’s egg is always the same and is known as the X chromosome. But the sex chromosome from a man’s sperm may be an X or a Y chromosome.
If the egg is fertilised by a sperm containing an X chromosome, the baby will be a girl . If the sperm contains a Y chromosome, the baby will be a boy .
How To Know When Youre Ovulating
Knowing when you ovulate can help you plan for sex at the right time and improve your chance of getting pregnant. You can keep track of your menstrual cycles on a chart, in a diary, or on a free period-tracker app on your smartphone.
To work out the length of your menstrual cycle, record the first day you start bleeding . This is day 1. The last day of your cycle is the day before your next period begins.
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Some people think the menstrual cycle and a period are the same thing.
A period is when you bleed .
A menstrual cycle starts on the day when a period starts and ends the day before the next period. A cycles length is considered normal if its between 21 and 35 days. They can vary between women and from one cycle to the next.
- Working out your average menstrual cycle length
If your menstrual cycles are different lengths you can work out your average cycle length.
The number of days in a womans menstrual cycle can vary month to month. Periods are not always regular. It can be useful to work out an average cycle length, based on the length of three menstrual cycles, to estimate when youre most likely to be ovulating.
If you add the number of days in three cycles and divide the total number by three, it gives you your average cycle length.
Example
Sarah tracked her last three menstrual cycles by counting the time from the first day of one period, to the day before the next period.
Cycle 1 was 28 days Cycle 2 was 32 days Cycle 3 was 27 days
28 + 32 + 27 = 87
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Resources For Survivors Of Domestic Violence
Turning Point released this statement:
Turning Point Domestic Violence Services shares our deepest sympathies and condolences with the family and loved ones of Julie Neumann. We believe it is incredibly important for the community to recognize that these homicides and all levels of interpersonal violence are occurring in our very own backyards at an alarming rate
Turning Point strongly encourages a person who is experiencing abuse to contact the domestic violence agency serving their area. The agency encourages survivors to work with their local program to safety plan, acquire the appropriate resources, and weigh the pros and cons of each step, as every situation is unique. Working with a domestic violence advocate who has experience and training in navigating the system can be helpful when filing a protection order or completing other steps toward securing safety.
Research shows that having a permanent protection order in effect reduces police-reported physical violence by eighty percent . A person with a protection order implemented is less likely to be contacted, threatened, or be physically or psychologically abused by the perpetrator.
Reach And Maintain A Healthy Weight
People who are overweight or obese have a higher risk for many serious conditions, including complications during pregnancy, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers .1 People who are underweight are also at risk for serious health problems.2
The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isnt about short-term dietary changes. Its about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating and regular physical activity.
If you are underweight, overweight, or obese, talk with your doctor about ways to reach and maintain a healthy weight before you get pregnant.
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