So you’re completely ready for a baby, but your body isn’t on board and things are difficult. You want to learn what can cause problems with getting pregnant and how you can get past some of these issues.

You may be wondering why your body isn’t cooperating with what you want.
About eleven percent of women of childbearing age, have difficulty getting pregnant. It can happen to anyone, even if you have had a child already.

Some of the reasons behind this could include:

Your Ovulation

A cyst or tumor can prevent you from getting pregnant. An underactive thyroid can also cause problems because it’s a gland that produces the hormone that tells your body to release an egg at ovulation. If you have an eating disorder, or work-out too much, you may also stop ovulating altogether. There are other problems that can affect your ovulation, it’s sometimes not as simple as tracking your period, but is especially more difficult if your period and ovulation aren’t in sync.

Cervical Problems

Trauma from an abnormal Pap smear, cervical cancer, and cervical stenosis (narrow cervical opening), can all cause fertility issues. 

Stress

Tension and worrying play a role when it comes to fertility. Especially when infertility can’t be explained. You don’t need to have a high-stress career to have stress. Anxiety about about feeling inadequate for not getting pregnant immediatley can also add to your stress-levels.

Aging

As we age, our fertility decreases. Once you reach your mid-thirties, you are around half as fertile as you were in your early twenties. A lower sperm count also happens for older men.

First Steps When Having Trouble Conceiving

• If you’re under 35 and have been having unprotected sex on average three times a week for twelve months, it’s time to speak to your doctor. If your older than 35 don’t wait too long. If it has been 6 months, start to look for other options such as an IVF clinic has remarkable IVF success rates.
• Set-Up an appointment. You will get a lot of questions as they will want to cover your entire health history and get a full picture of your health profile.
• Schedule testing. There will be blood tests, ovulation tests, tests to check your egg, you name it. But they all go toward finding out what the issues may be.

• Seek Treatment- Nothing fits every couple so it’s important for you to look at all your options, like IVF and home insemination, and find out what works for you as a team.
• Discuss Your Options- There are plenty of methods that help couples get pregnant, there’s artificial insemination, fertility drugs, assisted reproductive technology, IVF, GIFT, and others such as sperm donation ot surrogacy.

The big thing to remember is not to panic and take a deep breath. Not everyone who seeks fertility treatments ends up needing it, some women will conceive naturally. There is no shame in needing a little help, just remember to relax. Are you trying for a baby? Is it taking longer than you expected? What are you doing to try and keep yourself relaxed?