How long will it take to get pregnant?

We can't tell you how long it will take you to get pregnant, but we can give you some pointers. 

How long does it take the average couple to get pregnant?

Just what are the odds that you will get pregnant quite soon? Back in high school, you may have learned that you could get pregnant "every time you had sex" probably regardless of birth control too. When you were reading up on how to get pregnant, you were bombarded with messages about how getting pregnant is no easy task and you'll be at it for about a year before you see a positive pregnancy test. You're no average couple. You are two individuals, and you are not a statistic. Some figures will probably help you, however. An amazing 80 percent of couples who are within childbearing age, have regular sexual intercourse, and are not using contraceptives get pregnant within a year.

You actually have a 25 percent chance of conceiving during your first cycle of trying! Sixty percent (that's over half!) of couples get pregnant within half a year of trying. So, what exactly is "regular sex"? Sperm can survive inside the female reproductive system for as long as five to seven days. Doing the deed every two or three days (around two to four times a week) qualifies as regular sex. Simply having regular sex throughout the menstrual cycle (you don't have to do it during your period), whenever you both feel like it is likely to do the trick just fine.

You may also like to choose some method to monitor when the female partner ovulates, so that you are absolutely sure that you have the chance to catch that egg.

What influences fertility?

So, 80 percent of all couples who are trying get pregnant within a year. That does not mean anything to you happen to have a fertility problem. How do you know if that applies to you or your partner? The definition of infertility is now actively trying to conceive for longer than 12 months without conceiving.

There is every possibility that an individual couple didn't conceive within a year because they were simply unlucky. Perhaps they had sex at the wrong time, or one partner took frequent business trips, or... any other factor that can prevent conception. Those couples who have been trying to conceive for a year have every reason to pay a simple "we're a little concerned" trip to their family doctor. You may get a referral. Infertility can be of a hormonal, physical, or environmental/lifestyle nature.

READ Physical causes of female infertility

It can also be idiopathic, or unexplained. Infertility is as likely to affect men as it is to affect women, and some couples deal with male and female infertility simultaneously. Some fertility problems are relatively simple to remedy, while others require a great deal of medical intervention. Sometimes, there simply is nothing that can be done. Wouldn't you want to find out about infertility as soon as possible, so you can consider artificial reproductive techniques as early as possible? Success rates decline with age, but many couples became parents thanks to intrauterine insemination, fertility medications, or IVF.