Fertile days
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Waiting times are normal
Most couples take it for granted that they can have a baby - if they just want to. How unlikely it actually is to father a child becomes apparent to many only after trying in vain for some time.
Human reproduction is extremely prone to failure. A small mistake in sperm formation, egg maturation, fertilization or implantation - and the chances of pregnancy are wasted for the next four weeks. The chance of getting pregnant is only about 30 percent per monthly cycle for women between the ages of 20 and 30. In women over 30 years of age, this number continues to decrease (a 35-year-old woman may no longer ovulate during the monthly cycle due to the decreasing hormone production). In men, fertility declines around the age of 40.
In general, about a third of all women have to wait longer than a year before becoming pregnant. So don't be disappointed if it doesn't work out right away.
Timing is everything
The time window is small: ovulation only takes place once a month, after which the egg cell is only able to be fertilized for about a day. Sperm survive in the woman's body for two to five days. Around ovulation - two days before to one day after - the chance of fertilization is highest.
But catching this point in time is not easy, because hardly any woman knows the exact date of her ovulation. As a rule of thumb, the 9th and 16th day of a 28-day cycle are most likely to get pregnant. Couples who sleep together every third day can save themselves the arithmetic. You will definitely have a fertile day.
Abstinence increases fertility
Too frequent sex worsens the fertility just like too seldom. With daily ejaculation there are fewer sperm cells in the sperm than after brief sexual abstinence. Breaks of two to three days are ideal.
Incidentally, the position in love play does not play a role in conception. On the fertile days, a woman can become pregnant from any form of vaginal intercourse.
Barrier cervix
On most days of the cycle, a tough plug of mucus closes the cervix. Only at the time of ovulation does the body get ready for male germ cells. The mucus becomes more fluid and the cervix lets the semen pass through.
In the cervical mucus, the sperm are now even protected against attacks by the female immune system and can survive for several days. Contractions of the uterus also help the sperm move towards the fallopian tubes.
Lossy trip
With the ejaculate, 350 to 400 million sperm cells usually pour into the vagina. Most of them, however, drop out somewhere on the way from the vagina via the cervix and uterus to the fallopian tube. A mere 500 to 700 vital sperm cells make it to their destination: the egg cell.
From the last survivors only one sperm thread is allowed to go to the egg. A complicated interaction between the two germ cells ensures that only one sperm actually bores its way through the egg shell and fertilizes the egg cell.
Survival in the womb
A fertilized egg still does not make pregnancy. The germ needs four to five days to make its way into the uterine cavity. Meanwhile, it divides several times. If it survives this journey and the uterine lining is ready, the embryo can now implant itself.
If all goes well, there are now 36 weeks until the birth.
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