10 common fertility myths

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1. A woman's menstrual cycle is 28 days. A normal cycle lasts anywhere from 21 to 36 days.
2. A woman can get pregnant on only one day of her cycle. While once the egg is released, it is viable for 12 to 24 hours, she can actually get pregnant from having intercourse 5 days prior and 2 days after ovulation.
3. Stress causes infertility. Stress does not cause infertility, but may delay ovulation by the suppression of hormones.
4. Sperm live for only several hours. In fertile cervical liquid, sperm can actually live up to 5 days.
5. A man with a high sex drive will have a normal sperm count. There is no correlation between virility and fertility for men and some men with a normal sex drive may have no sperm at all.
6. A woman should wait 3 months to conceive after stopping the use of the pill. Birth control pills reduce the hormone levels in a woman and suppress ovulation. Once a woman stops taking the pill, the hormone levels start to return to normal almost immediately and ovulation should begin the very next cycle.
7. Infertility is primarily caused by females. Studies have shown that infertility problems are caused by men and women equally, with 20% of infertility problems being a combination of both.
8. Women ovulate on day 14 of their cycle. If this were true, it would be easy to conceive or avoid pregnancy. To calculate ovulation, count backward 14 days from the last day of the last menstrual cycle.
9. Having sex daily increases the chances of conceiving. Having sex every other day at the time of ovulation, most often between days 12 and 16 of a woman's cycle, is sufficient since sperm live an average of 2 days.
10. Fertility problems begin at 35. While women reach their fertile peak in their twenties, fertility changes throughout a woman's life and does not suddenly decline at age 35.

      For more info: Visit the American Fertility Association at www.theafa.org.