Trying to have a baby can be hugely exciting time in just about anyone’s life, the promise of bringing new life into the world and having your very own child. It’s a dream of many, and it is a dream that is realized by many as well. But many people in the country run into a variety of fertility problems, with many struggling to conceive and others not naturally able to conceive at all. Fortunately, scientific advancements and many a fertility doctor has helped to make conception and child bearing possible for many a couple – or even for single women and men on their own.
But when understanding fertility issues, a fertility doctor will first likely outline what is normal for fertility and conception. For instance, even a healthy and young couple with not definable reproductive issues can take as long as a year to conceive. As a matter of fact, partners who both fall between the still young ages of 29 and 33 actually only have up to 25% chance of conceiving during any given month, even if both partners are quite fertile. For this couple, giving the process of conception at least one full year before seeking out the aid of a fertility doctor is ideal, as they are still very likely to conceive at some point over the course of this year.
However, the longer even a healthy couple waits to try to conceive, the less likely it is to actually happen. This is due to the steep drop off in female fertility over the course of time. For while most women are at their most fertile between the ages of 20 and 24, most women who fall into this age group are not yet ready to a have a child for a wide variety of reasons. Fortunately, the vast majority of these women will still be able to conceive a few years outside of and past this bracket as well. However, fertility can begin to drop quickly after the age of 30 – and even more quickly after the age of 35, after which any woman who conceives is considered to have a geriatric pregnancy. By the time that women reach the age of 40, an age that more and more women are choosing to have children at, the chances of conceiving naturally have dropped to only about 40%, starkly less than the odds for women of a younger age, though still possible for many.
Fortunately, seeing a fertility doctor can even help older women to conceive, as this fertility experts can recommend a number of different procedures to make conception a reality. For instance, various fertility methods have now been approved for use, and sometimes these medications are all that a woman will need in order to conceive. Other times, more invasive methods, such as IVF (in vitro fertilization) will become necessary. Typically, the IVF cost is quite high indeed, but more and more insurances are covering various insurance procedures all throughout the country. For many people and for many women, the cost of the IVF process is more than worth it for the ability to reproduce that it gives them.
However, all other methods of conception should be exhausted before IVF and other such invasive procedures are attempted, as sometimes even just simple lifestyle changes can have quite the impact. For instance, regular cigarette smokers are far less likely to conceive than people who do not smoke cigarettes in any capacity. Stopping smoking can help to improve fertility not just for the female partner in the equation, but can also improve the fertility rates of the male partner as well, something that many people might find themselves surprised to learn. The average fertility doctor might even recommend for the man to wear different underwear, as this can help to promote healthy sperm production. This fertility doctor might advise some dietary changes as well, as any fertility doctor will know that even small changes can have some type of impact, sometimes one that is enough to allow for a couple to conceive naturally.
