Why does conception take so long

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Learn how long it typically takes to conceive by age — and when it's time to seek help from a specialist. Back to Top. In This Article. Continue Reading Below. Read This Next. Your Fertility if You're Over Age Preparing for Pregnancy. Understanding Male Infertility. View Sources. Tarun Jain, M. December Planned Parenthood, How Pregnancy Happens , One study, published in the journal Human Reproduction , followed women who were trying to get pregnant by having sex at the time in their monthly cycle when they were believed to be most fertile.

Of the women in the study, conceived in the first year. The breakdown was like this:. We decided to take this very excellent question to moms and moms-to-be on The Bump Facebook page. But at least it gives you a real-life example. This is what they said:. I broke down and bought the Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor, and it worked in the first month.

We were told that the chances of us conceiving naturally were less than 1 percent. We got very lucky and it happened on our first try. If it happened, it happened. It only took us six weeks from the first time we had sex completely birth-control- and condom-free. My husband and I were shocked because we anticipated it taking a full year again.

It found that those people who could not conceive straightaway were often able to after they addressed specific fertility issues. The study found that:. Another study from Germany in the same year had similar results. Researchers found the following pregnancy rates for couples trying to conceive:. The study looked at people. Of those, conceived during the study, and 36 did not get pregnant. Learn more about the best age to have a baby here. Learn about how a person can boost their fertility naturally here.

A couple trying to conceive will need to have vaginal intercourse on a regular basis to increase their chances of getting pregnant. This is because females can ovulate earlier or later in their cycle. It is a good idea for couples to track when ovulation occurs so they can time their attempts to conceive correctly.

The amount of time before ovulation occurs varies from person to person and from month to month. Learn more about calculating when ovulation occurs here. Several factors can affect this, such as:. A doctor can diagnose health conditions that affect fertility and recommend the best way forward.

Learn how to identify possible infertility here. Infertility occurs when a couple consistently has difficulty conceiving. The NICHD define infertility as not conceiving with regular intercourse after 1 year for females under 35 years, and for females 35 years and older, not conceiving with regular intercourse after 6 months. March of Dimes recommend that couples who have trouble conceiving talk with their doctor. The doctor will likely perform a physical examination and order tests that check for fertility issues , such as looking into the quantity and quality of sperm.

Learn more about infertility in males and females here. A couple should talk to their doctor if they have not gotten pregnant after 1 year of trying to conceive. However, anyone who thinks that other factors, such as an underlying condition or age, are affecting fertility should speak with a doctor sooner.