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Before most people realize they may have trouble conceiving, they first try. And sometimes try and try for months or years. The first step in fertility education should come from knowing about conception – when are you most fertile and what is you chance of conceiving?

When am I most fertile?

When couples start to consider building a family, they often wonder when they are most fertile or try to make a fertility calendar. Generally speaking, your “fertility window” is 6 days leading up to and ending on the day of the female partner’s ovulation.  This is because sperm can live inside the female body for several days and the egg survives for about 24 hours after ovulation. Having intercourse every 24-48 hours leading up to ovulation will increase your chances of pregnancy.

For women that have regular cycles, determining ovulation and your fertility calendar is easy – it is typically 14 days before the start of your next period. However, many women do not have regular cycles, making planning more challenging. Ovulation predictor kits detect rises in luteinizing hormone (LH) which happens prior to ovulation. For those of you already in fertility treating at Shady Grove Fertility you are probably very familiar with LH, as it is part of your basic Day 3 testing and often included in treatment protocols to stimulate the development of eggs.

What are my chances of conceiving on your own?

While it may seem that your friends seem to keep getting pregnant with ease, the truth is women in their 30s only have about a 15% chance of conceiving each month.

• There is about a 15% chance of conceiving in each ovulatory cycle. And that is with doing everything right – meaning, you don’t have any medical issues and his sperm count is fine.
• Approximately 40% will conceive during the first three months of trying, and about 70% of couples will conceive during the first six months.
• Within the first year of trying to conceive, up to 85% of couples will conceive. Leaving us with the approximately 1 in 8 couples that are impacted by infertility.

Shady Grove Fertility encourages women under 35 years of age that have been trying to conceive for over a year to schedule an appointment with a fertility specialist. For couples over 35, meeting with a fertility specialist after 6 months is recommended.

If you are having trouble conceiving on your own, it may be time to see a fertility specialist. Please call us at 877-971-7755 or request an appointment online.

 The Pressure of Timing

Women today face the difficult task of deciding what “having it all” means to them, in what order, and what happens when things don’t happen quite according to plan. There are education, career and relationship options to choose before “is it time to have a family?” comes up. Yet the biological clock is not simply an abstract timeline. When, and how, to have children is very often the most stressful challenge women can face when education/career/partner don’t simply fall into place by their mid-30s.

Choice Moms

In light of the coordinated effort needed to get to “the perfect situation,” many women have decided that their desire to start a family in their 30s might require becoming a single mother by choice. Choice Moms are women who have done the math, recalculated the plan, and decided to move forward with their dream of parenthood on their own. Mikki Morrissette, author of “Choosing Single Motherhood: The Thinking Woman’s Guide” and founder of ChoiceMoms.org, has communicated with thousands of these women around the world, and has hosted dozens of Choice Mom networking events since 2007.

“Some of us divorced in our early 30s, or simply haven’t been fortunate enough to find the right partner before we understand from our doctors that, hey, if you want to have a family, you need a new plan,” said Morrissette, who had two children on her own, now 9 and 13. “We tend to be goal-oriented women who are accustomed to getting things done. But in building a family, we can’t do it alone. And ultimately, we often find that so much is not within our control, whether we are trying to conceive or adopt. It’s a stressful situation.”

In the News: Dr. Eric Levens discusses Mothers by Choice with WAMU, American University Radio

Finding Support

Choice Moms is a worldwide organization that gives women the resources and connections they need to decide whether single parenthood is the right path and, if so, what method to motherhood to choose, how to find support in their choice and how to stay balanced in the lifestyle.

At Choice Mom networking events, women hear from experts, including other women who have been there. “Sometimes one of the hardest things for a woman who might choose this path is to ask for help,” says Morrissette. “We tend to be self-sufficient, independent thinkers who assume we have to do everything alone. But, it always takes a village to parent well, whether we are single or not.”

Choice Moms Event
April 6^th in Rockville, MD

If you are trying to decide if Choice Motherhood is the journey for you, if you feel daunted by the process of trying to conceive — or if you simply want to share stories and learn from fellow Choice Moms on the path — come to a special Choice Moms networking seminar at Shady Grove Fertility in Rockville, Maryland, on April 6.  Details and registration information can be found at Choicemoms.org.

If you are interested in building a family through fertility treatment, please schedule an appointment, or speak with one of our New Patient Liaisons at 877-971-7755.

December 7, 2012 – Eric D. Levens, MD is interviewed by WAMU 88.5 about Mothers by Choice – women who are selecting to raise a family on their own. Dr. Levens discusses the trend of women choosing to become mother’s on their own with the assistance of fertility treatment.

Links of Interest – Mothers by Choice

• Listen now to WAMU’s Metro Connection – the Mothers by Choice segment begins around 17min 30sec.
• Stacey and Clair became Mothers by Choice via fertility treatment.  Read their stories.
• What do you need to know about using donor sperm?
• Protect your fertility – now women who want to wait to conceive have an option.

Also discussed on this episode of Metro Connection, Washington, DC area parents discuss the changes in parenting now compared to their own childhood, the growth of surrogacy in the United States and internationally, bringing the classroom into the home, and more. Listen to Metro Connection.

• Washington, DC is named the best city to raise a family by Parenting Magazine.

For more information or to   schedule an appointment with one of our physicians, please speak with one of our New Patient Liaisons by calling 877-971-7755.