It’s natural to want to have cute little babies who are your very image. Every man feels important and responsible when he sees his progeny, and humans are naturally tuned to have kids and let their race survive. Over the centuries, infertility has resulted in many myths masquerading as facts handed down through generations, and the worst part, though, is that these myths are still around.
Myth 1: Infertility is Caused by Problems With the Female
This is nothing but sheer ignorance about what goes on inside the body. Women are often made the scapegoats if a couple can’t conceive, and this has been the case for long in a male centric society. But modern studies have shown that in about 45% of the cases, it is the sperm count that’s to the blamed; 40% of the blame can rest on the female organs and sheer incompatibility can fall under the remaining 15%.
Myth 2: Something is Wrong if Ovulation Fails to Occur in the 14th Day
The length of a woman’s menstrual cycle is not uniform; it varies from woman to woman and even then as she grows older the cycle changes. Usually it can be from 24 to 36 days, though various factors like menopause or anaemia impact a woman’s cycle. As considered by most people, ovulation does not occur on the 14th day of a woman’s cycle; this is an utter misconception; it occurs on the 14th day from her period’s due date; that is if her cycle is a 30 day cycle, then ovulation occurs on the 16th day after her last period.
Myth 3: The Window of Opportunity to Conceive is Very Small
The egg can live for 12 to 24 hours; the sperm can survive for up to 3 days in the cervix; so there is a wide window of opportunity to conceive in each cycle. The sperm can live for 3 days in the cervix normally and in her most fertile period, it can live up to 5 days.
Myth 4: Birth Control Pills can Permanently Affect a Woman's Ability to Conceive
Birth control pills do not affect a woman’s ability to conceive, after she has stopped taking them. In actual fact, from the very next cycle after stopping the pills she can conceive.
Myth 5: Men With Higher Sex Drives can Help Women in Conceiving Easily
There is no connection between virility and fertility in men; so the notion that a man with a higher sex drive can get the woman pregnant more easily is a misconception.
Myth 6: Stress is One of the Key Reasons Why a Woman can't Conceive
Stress is in no way responsible for a woman’s inability to conceive; real factors behind infertility can be mechanical failure, ovulatory or cervical.
Myth 7: Painful Periods and Vaginal Outflow Point Towards Infertility
Painful periods cannot result in infertility; in fact science contends the opposite – which indicates a mature egg was being ejected. Outflow of semen from the vagina is pretty common and does not lead to difficulties in conceiving.
Myth 8: In Order to Conceive, the Man's Sperm Should be of Very Good Quality and Very Good Quantity as Well
The amount and quality of a man’s semen in no way affects the sperm’s ability to fertilize the egg, resulting in a pregnancy. In fact it is the motility of the sperm which determines that and that can be ascertained only under a microscopic study.
Myth 9: Once You Relax and do not Stress About Conceiving, You will Conceive
This is purely an old wives’ tale; though the absence of stress can sometimes result in a pregnancy it alone cannot be considered a factor for a successful pregnancy.
In case of any doubts regarding the difficulty you face when trying to conceive or when attempting to start a family, do not hesitate to talk your doctor and ask exhaustive questions about any matter of concern you might have. Your doctor is there to answer your questions and dispel any myths; so do not give into any fears you might have as a result of listening to old wives’ tales and be an informed parent from the get-go.
