When Will I Get Pregnant? The Many Factors to Consider

Once you’ve made the decision to have a baby but haven’t been successful immediately, you may feel concerned and start to wonder, “When will I get pregnant?” Growing up, when we learn about sex education, it seems like getting pregnant is very easy. The reality is that depending on several factors including age, timing and overall health, it may take a few months to a year. In fact, only one third of healthy couples conceive in the first month of trying.

When Will I Get Pregnant if I’m Under 35?

Age is a key factor when it comes to a woman and her fertility. Women are born with approximately two million eggs and the older they get, the more the egg quality and quantity decrease. By her mid-twenties, on average, a woman’s egg count may already be down to approximately 300,000 eggs. Around 35 years old is when the decline starts to happen more rapidly.

So, if you’re under 35 years old, have no known medical issues, regular periods, are having intercourse around when you are ovulating and are wondering, “When will I get pregnant?”, the answer is you would ideally conceive within a year. If you haven’t, that is when you would consider seeing a reproductive endocrinologist.

When Will I Get Pregnant if I’m Over 35?

As per the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, women under 30 have about a 25% chance of getting pregnant. Women over 30 have a 20% chance, and by 40, it’s drops to a noteworthy 5%. This is why if you’re between the ages of 35 years old and 40 years old, have no known medical issues, regular periods, are having intercourse around when you are ovulating and are wondering, “When will I get pregnant?”, the answer is you would ideally conceive within six months. If you haven’t, that is when you would consider seeing a reproductive endocrinologist.

How Do I Know When I’m Ovulating?

When it comes to conceiving, the question you may want to ask yourself isn’t so much, “When will I get pregnant?” as much as it should be, “When am I ovulating?” Knowing when you’re ovulating can help expedite your chance of conceiving as you are most fertile around the time of ovulation.. Ovulation is when your body releases an egg from your ovary. The egg travels down the fallopian tube where it may be met by a sperm. Sperm is viable for three to five days so if you can pinpoint when you’re ovulating ahead of time, you can plan to have intercourse around then to improve your chances of conceiving.You can use over the counter ovulation prediction kits, take your basal body temperature, and observe your cervical mucus to help identify when you are ovulating.

What if I’m Still Not Getting Pregnant?

If you’ve been trying to conceive for more than a year, have irregular periods, have difficulty knowing when you’re ovulating, are older than 40 years old, have a known medical concern that could impact your fertility or are simply feeling concerned, you should feel free to seek the help of a reproductive endocrinologist.

For women, the reproductive endocrinologist will order blood work to look at various hormones, such as Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone (LH), Estradiol and Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH). Your AMH will provide insight into the number of follicles you have in your ovaries (every follicle has an egg inside). These hormones will give the doctor an idea of how many eggs you have, and a general idea of your reproductive health and ovulation function. Women may also have a transvaginal sonogram to count the number of follicles and help determine ovarian reserve. Men can have a have a semen analysis done where they look at three main factors: Sperm Count, Morphology (which is the shape of the sperm) and the Motility (which is how well the sperm swims). While your doctor may not be able to specifically answer the question, “When will I get pregnant?”, these tests, as well as some medical background, will help him or her gain insight into what treatment and options you have to help build your family.

What if I Can Get Pregnant but I’ve Had Miscarriages

A miscarriage is defined as the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks gestation. A miscarriage happens most often during the first trimester, which is before 14 weeks gestation. If you’ve had two or more pregnancy losses, mention this to a reproductive endocrinologist. This is, unfortunately, common and there are both diagnostic tests and treatment options that may help. If you’re undergoing IVF, you may consider Pre-implantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A), which was previously known as PGS.
PGT-A identifies the number of chromosomes in embryos, so that your doctor can preferentially transfer embryos that are chromosomally normal and have a higher chance of resulting in a healthy baby. There is also another test called Products Of Conception that can be performed if tissue can be collected during the miscarriage.  This test may help determine the cause of a miscarriage by assessing for chromosome abnormalities.

Asking yourself, “When will I get pregnant?” is an important question, as there are many factors to consider. Hopefully, after reviewing all of the many factors and aspects that go into conceiving, you can see why getting pregnant can take time. What’s comforting to know is that whether you conceive within a few months, a year, on your own or with the help of a doctor; once you hold your baby in your arms, none of those details will matter. The wait will be worth it.