Fertility Education

When thinking of your reproductive health and fertility education, often a vague memory of 5^th grade comes to mind. The boys in one room and the girls in another. Often times, this is the last time you thought about the specifics of reproduction. The intricacies of how your body actually reproduces. For most of your early adulthood the goal is often to NOT get pregnant. Many individuals specifically choose different methods to prevent pregnancy. So when the time finally comes to get pregnant it just happens, right? Not for everyone. For some, getting pregnant isn’t as easy as it is portrayed in the movies or as simple as the “Don’t drink the water,” comment when surrounded by a bunch of pregnant women.

Fertility Education 101

In order for a woman to have the potential to become pregnant the following must be true of her and her partner:

• She ovulates a healthy mature egg
• Her fallopian tubes and uterus are unobstructed
• Her partner produces healthy sperm
• The timing of intercourse allows for the sperm to be present when the egg is released

While this list is short there are a number of ways in which each can be slightly off and not allow for fertilization and implantation.

• She isn’t ovulating a healthy egg or any egg at all
• Her fallopian tubes are blocked or a fibroid or other mass is obstructing the uterus
• Her partner has a low sperm count or the shape and movement of the sperm are irregular. Learn more about factors affecting male fertility.
• Her menstrual cycle is out of whack and she doesn’t know when an egg will be released. View a chart of explaining what occurs during the menstrual cycle.
• She is in a same sex relationship and needs a sperm donor to achieve pregnancy.

In the U.S., 1 in 8 couples experience trouble getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term. While infertility is often thought of as a “woman’s issue”, infertility affects men and women equally. Humans are the most inefficient reproducers of all mammals. A perfectly healthy 20-year-old couple, with perfect eggs and sperm, a 28-day menstrual cycle, open fallopian tubes and an unobstructed uterus only have a 15-20% chance of getting pregnant in a given month.
With all of this in mind our goal at Vios Fertility Institute is to educate and bring awareness to your fertility health. While at the same time eliminating the stigma of “Infertility”. By understanding how your body works, and thinking about your future goals for family building at a younger age, women and men can take control of their fertility health.