Infertility Tutorials

Will using egg whites as lubricants during intercourse increase chances of pregnancy? This article from TheStir.com sheds some light on this fertility myth.

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Some women will try ANYTHING to increase their odds of getting pregnant, and the latest alleged fertility booster burning up the message boards is this: using raw egg whites as lubricant during sex. Sure, your knee-jerk reaction might be ewww ... but some moms swear this method holds water.

So ... what do the experts say?

"Using egg whites as a lubricant to increase a woman’s chances of getting pregnant is discussed quite frequently on fertility message boards and elsewhere online," says Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, OB/GYN for Bundoo.com. "The thinking behind it is that it mimics cervical mucus, which helps the sperm find its way into the cervical opening on its way to fertilizing an egg."

In fact, cervical mucus does indeed change throughout a woman’s menstrual cycle, and the type of mucus seen during ovulation is commonly referred to as -- you got it -- "egg whitecervical mucus." "This probably explains the jump to thinking that actual egg whites can increase a woman’s chance of getting pregnant," Lincoln says.

Egg whites are also thought to impact the vaginal environment's pH in a fertility-friendly way. "Egg white is supposed to make the vaginal area more basic, so that the sperm have a better chance of survival," says Jennifer Burns, a naturopathic family practitioner and founder of the Bienetre Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Yet in spite of this method's many fans, "there isn’t any really hard scientific data to back this practice up," says Lincoln. "Many women swear it was the thing that worked for them, but it’s impossible to know if they would have conceived that very same cycle without this extra trick."

Still think it's worth a shot? It turns out you may want to leave the carton of eggs in the kitchen.

"Using egg whites to help with fertility potentially can be risky because we all know that under-cooked eggs can carry bacteria that could be harmful," warns Melissa Goist, an OB/GYN at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center.

In other words, you may want to skip this trick and stick to some safer -- and more scientific -- methods for babymaking.

One eggy example to try? Check your cervical mucus for this egg-white-like consistency, which means your fertility is at an all-month high. "This natural healthy environment that our body creates is better at helping with fertility," says Goist. "So instead of worrying about a good lubricant, start paying more attention to your body’s natural signals that it is a good time to try!"

Have you tried using raw egg white as a lubricant to get pregnant?

Is a woman's age really related to her fertility? This article from Fox News discusses the myth behind age 35 - the dreaded fertility cliff.

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Just when you're leaning in to your life, you can start hearing it in the distance: the drumbeat of fertility anxiety. Your drive and ambition could be earning plenty of wins, but people still whisper that your biological clock is ticking and your ovaries are shriveling, so if you don't lock down a baby daddy and procreate before your early 30s, you might never be able to. 

No surprise, then, that so many smart women wonder whether taking the time to meet the right partner could be dooming their wombs. In fact, 40 percent of women ages 18 to 40 in a new Yale School of Medicine study said that if they were trying to get pregnant, they'd be concerned about whether they'd be able to conceive.

But according to new research, that mounting fear about our ability to conceive just may be unfounded, stoked by a news cycle determined to fan the flames. 

"Your fertility is a finite thing, and you need to be aware of this. But these days, fertility obsession has taken over," said Dr. Hilda Hutcherson, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. "I see so many young women in my practice, even in their early 20s, who are already alarmed about whether they'll be able to have kids. Most of my younger patients have no reason to worry."

That's reassuring news if you're currently hitting your stride in your career and can't easily switch to motherhood mode or if you haven't yet met the partner you want to make babies with. So take a collective deep breath. Take a look at the science and learn more about why you really can dial back the baby mania.

Is 35 the fertility cliff?  Even women who are years away from their 35th birthday have it burned in their minds that it's all downhill from there. 

"I've always heard that getting pregnant becomes more difficult after 30, and at 35 fertility really takes a dive," said Claire H., 28, who has been dating a new guy for about 10 months. "I know I want kids, so I've been doing the math—dating, engagement, time to just be married, the time it might take to conceive, plus the actual pregnancy—and I'm already behind the curve."

But is she really? When you look at the numbers, the time line is likely fine. A 2013 study from Fertility and Sterility determined that 78 percent of 35- to 40-year-olds became pregnant within a year, compared with 84 percent of women between 20 and 34, if both groups had sex during the most fertile time in their cycles. Instead of a plunge, the fertility cliff may more closely resemble a bunny slope. 

This reinforces an earlier study of 782 couples by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which found that the difference in fertility rates between women heading into their mid-30s and women looking at 40 was just 4 percentage points: Eighty-six percent of 27- to 34-year-olds who had sex twice a week were able to get pregnant naturally within a year, versus 82 percent of 35- to 39-year-old women. 

That's not to say age doesn't matter—it definitely does. You're born with all the eggs you'll ever have—about 1 million. Each year, thousands die naturally, so by puberty, you're at 300,000, and the numbers continue to decline. And the younger the egg, the less likely it will carry abnormalities that prevent it from developing into a healthy embryo. Still, the overall risk for these complications remains low.

The most pronounced drop in fertility happens after 40, reproductive specialists say. 

"Your chance of conceiving at age 42 is about 9 percent per cycle," explains Dr. Pasquale Patrizio, a fertility researcher, clinician and director of the Yale Fertility Center. "By 44, it's 2 percent per cycle, and at 45, it's at most 1 percent per cycle." 

This isn't to say that conception won't happen—women in their early 40s have healthy babies naturally all the time, said Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, clinical professor in the department of reproductive sciences at the Yale School of Medicine. But biology isn't on your side.

So if hitting 35 doesn't mean your baby-making days are absolutely over, how did it get stuck in women's heads? It might be linked to the fact that the chances of having a baby with a genetic abnormality do increase at that point. When giving birth at age 25, the risk of having a child with Down syndrome, for example, is one in 1,250; at 30, it's one in 1,000; at 35, it's one in 400. The increased risk isn't hype, but "even that is small in real life," Dr. Hutcherson says. That means you have a 99 percent chance of having a baby without Down syndrome.

The Problem May Not Be You All the news spotlights the trouble that women can have with fertility, leading them to consider drastic (and often premature) solutions, while men's fertility issues go largely unreported. 

"Women tend to worry about fertility much more than men, and if they do have trouble conceiving, they're the ones asking, 'What's wrong with me?'" Dr. Hutcherson said. 

But the fact is, for about 40 percent of the couples unable to conceive, the guy is either the sole cause of the problem or at least a contributing factor. Usually, male infertility is triggered by low sperm counts or poor sperm quality. It can also be the result of age or even lifestyle factors like smoking and drinking.

We're led to believe that women need to panic about their age while men can father perfect babies anytime, but that's not the case. Even if men have no issues fathering children, paternal age may be associated with a higher rate of psychological disorders and developmental conditions like autism. A JAMA Psychiatry study from 2013 found that kids born to men over 45 were 3.5 times more likely to be diagnosed on the autism spectrum and 13 times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than those born to the same men when they were 20 to 24.

Finally, Egg Freezing Got an Upgrade Considered experimental by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine until 2012, egg freezing has become a more viable possibility—thanks to increased use of a relatively new technique that "flash freezes" eggs to help preserve their structure. The newer process, called vitrification, freezes the eggs so fast that ice crystals don't form and cause damage as they did in earlier techniques.

The age of your eggs is important, too, said Dr. Elizabeth Fino, reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at the NYU Fertility Center in New York City. Women who choose to freeze their eggs before age 35 have about a 45 percent rate of live births at Dr. Fino's clinic. By the time a woman is 40, the success rate falls to 37 percent, she said.

Another factor to keep in mind: If you're ready to go for it, you'll need to plan for the hefty expense. It can cost up to $12,000 to harvest and freeze your eggs, then at least $500 a year for storage, and elective treatments aren't covered by insurance.

You Can Help Maintain a Baby-Ready Body Kale smoothies and açai bowls won't necessarily extend your natural fertility window. 

"But you can make sure that when you're ready to have a baby, your body will be ready, too," Patrizio said.

Maintaining a healthy weight is especially important. Women with a body-mass index below 19 generally have too little body fat to sustain a pregnancy, and their bodies put the brakes on ovulation, so conception can't happen, Minkin said. Being seriously overweight can also put a dent in fertility, but carrying 10 or even 20 extra pounds won't affect it.

And here's yet another reason not to smoke: Even the occasional cigarette might make your eggs more prone to chromosomal abnormalities. Also, don't postpone yearly ob/gyn checkups, and be honest with your M.D. about symptoms like irregular bleeding or pelvic pain. They could be tip-offs to treatable conditions such as endometriosis or uterine fibroids, which could impair your fertility if left unchecked.

Managing stress (including fertility stress) could also be a good idea. 

"Some evidence shows that stress can delay conception when you're trying to get pregnant," said Alice Domar, director of integrative services at Boston IVF. Learn to dial it down now with deep breathing, mindfulness practice or yoga, skills you'll definitely need when you're ready to become a mom.

This article originally appeared on Self.com.

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The medical importance of ovulation should never be overlooked. Ovulation is a process in the female menstrual cycle where a mature ovarian follicle discharges an egg. The egg then travels down the fallopian tube and may meet a sperm for fertilization.

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Ovulation is a crucial process when a woman is attempting to get pregnant or when she is avoiding conception. However, ovulation may not be easy for most women to detect. Although the signs are all there, some may not be that recognizable. In assessing ovulation, these three factors are considered: basal body temperature, cervical fluid, and cervical position. In the event that these three primary signs are hard to monitor, women can make use of ovulation calendars.

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Ovulation calendars help a woman clearly see which days within her cycle she is likely to get pregnant and which are her “safe days.” Calendars take into account the timing of ovulation from one cycle to the next and identify potentially fertile days. Ovulation kits are available for sale, but there are online tools, just like WebMD’s and Baby Centre’s calendars that are readily available for free.

The significance of using an ovulation calendar goes beyond getting pregnant or not getting pregnant. It is useful to chart menstrual information in relation to fertility issues and reproductive health in general.

Is infertility primarily seen as a woman's issue? Find out in this Medical News Today article. "In our culture, reproduction is women's work. That work includes everything from conception to pregnancy, childbirth to breastfeeding. Infertility support groups, online chat groups, books, websites and blogs are led by women, written by women and geared toward women," says Liberty Barnes. "Men are missing from our collective imagination and social dialogue when it comes to infertility." Barnes should know a thing or two when it comes to attitudes toward male infertility. Currently a research associate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge in the UK, Barnes has spent the last 7 years investigating the topic by shadowing doctors in fertility clinics and talking to couples with male infertility. All of her research led to the publication of her book Conceiving Masculinity: Male Infertility, Medicine and Identity. But is what she says regarding society's attitudes toward male infertility accurate? Is infertility primarily seen as a woman's issue? "Unfortunately, the myth that infertility is just a female problem is very prevalent in the US," says Diana Cummins of Resolve: The National Infertility Association. "Women are the recipients of most of the medical testing and procedures, regardless of the cause of the infertility, so this leads people to believe that the infertility lies solely with the woman." "Also," Cummins adds, "women are more likely to speak about their infertility struggles and seek emotional support, even if the problem lies with their partner. This gives the impression that infertility only affects women." Male infertility: the facts According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, in 40% of all infertile couples, the male partner is either the main cause or contributing cause of infertility. Male infertility is mainly caused by sperm abnormalities, such as low sperm production, misshapen or immobile sperm, or blockages that stop sperm delivery.

Male infertility is mainly caused by sperm abnormalities, such as low sperm production, misshapen or immobile sperm, or blockages that stop sperm delivery. | Image Source: medicalnewstoday.com Such abnormalities can be caused by numerous medical conditions, including ejaculation problems, infection, varicocele (swelling of the veins in the testes), undescended testicles, erection problems and celiac disease. Environmental factors - such as exposure to industrial chemicals or radiation - can also reduce sperm function and production. Medical News Today recently reported on a study suggesting that chemicals found in toothpaste and sunscreen may interfere with sperm production. Health and lifestyle factors - including smoking and emotional stress - may also lead to male infertility. A 2013 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine associated a sedentary lifestyle with reduced sperm quality, while other research found a high-fat diet may negatively impact quality and concentration of sperm. A threat to masculinity? Of course, the main sign of male infertility is the inability to conceive a child. But unlike many other health conditions, male infertility often does not have any obvious signs or symptoms. This means that if a couple is having problems conceiving, both sexes should be evaluated for infertility in order to determine the source of the problem. This begins with talking to a health professional - usually a urologist - who will carry out a basic interview and examination. For both men and women, the thought of talking to a health professional about fertility is scary. Naturally, there will be feelings of embarrassment, low self-esteem and maybe even a sense of blame. "Men also tend to feel guilty that their wives or partners need to undergo infertility treatment if the cause is their own," says Corey Whelan, program director at the American Fertility Association. But it appears men experience an additional worry. Many fertility experts, including Susan Seenan, chief executive of Infertility Network UK, say that a lot of men see infertility as a threat to their masculinity, "and the fact that they can't 'fix' the problem often means they won't discuss the issue at all," says Seenan. However, Barnes says that from her work, she has found that men who are at the receiving end of infertility say they do not feel the condition affects their sense of masculinity but that it is considered emasculating by others. "While they understood that in the broader culture male infertility is considered unmanly, they carefully thought about their particular diagnosis and were able to make sense of it in terms that preserved their sense of masculinity," she explains. She adds that it is other people's perception of male infertility that makes talking about the condition "taboo." "We presume infertile men are suffering deep anguish, but the truth is, male infertility makes everyone feel uncomfortable. Doctors, wives, families, the media, and everyday folk feel compelled to protect men from a crisis of masculinity like male infertility." 'Male reproductive health is so misunderstood' But it is not only a sense of embarrassment or a potential threat to masculinity that can deter men from talking about infertility. Cummins believes that lack of understanding surrounding male infertility makes it harder for men to talk about it openly. She says:

"Male reproductive health in general is so misunderstood, to then talk about and share when there is a problem is very difficult for men to do. This lack of knowledge definitely impacts the male response to an infertility diagnosis."

"The general public understands that male infertility exists," adds Barnes. "Yet, few people realize that it is as common as female infertility. Most people know that male infertility can be assessed through a semen analysis. But many people are unaware that there are specialists who focus specifically on male infertility." Indeed, there are a series of tests that can detect male infertility. A sperm and semen analysis involves a trained expert assessing a man's sperm count from a semen sample, as well as the shape (morphology) and movement (motility) of the sperm. If any abnormalities are found, further tests will be required. Other tests to detect male infertility include hormone evaluation, genetic testing and a physical examination, which can usually pick up varicocele. What treatments are available for male infertility? Assisted reproductive technology (ART) involves obtaining sperm either through normal ejaculation or surgical extraction. The sperm is then either inserted in the female genital tract, or used for in vitro fertilization (IVF) where it is combined with a partner's egg inside a laboratory.

For men, ART involves obtaining sperm either through normal ejaculation or surgical extraction. The sperm is then either inserted in the female genital tract, or used for IVF - combined with a partner's egg inside a laboratory. | Image Source: medicalnewstoday.com In the case of hormonal problems, there are hormone replacement medications available that may reverse infertility, while antibiotics may treat an infection of the reproductive tract. Varicocele can sometimes be surgically corrected through surgery, and if infertility is caused by erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation, there are effective medications available. But of course, as with female infertility, not all treatments work. In the case of female infertility, there has been an array of medical research looking to address such problems. Last year, Medical News Today reported on a study detailing how a new IVF technique - labeled "endometrial scratching" - may increase pregnancy rates by 20%. Other research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reported on a new method to induce egg growth in infertile women. But has the same amount of effort been put into research for male infertility? Not according to Barnes. Male infertility research is 'lagging' "Amazing research is being done now in the field of male reproductive science," she says.

"Unfortunately, the historical focus on women's bodies means that male infertility research has lagged behind. We have inherited a medical system and medical technologies that are primarily focused on women."

Barnes believes that the medical community needs to embark on some major changes in order to shift more focus on treatment for male infertility. She notes that treatment for female infertility is a "well-defined medical specialty," but that treatment for male infertility is not as well organized. "As a result," she adds, "men do not always know where to find the proper channels for help with their infertility issues. Some men are happy to pursue IVF each time they want a child, but others would very much like to fix their fertility problems so that they can impregnate their partners themselves. These men find the medical system very frustrating and unsympathetic to their needs." However, Seenan believes that, so far, there have been major advances in research and treatment for both male and female infertility. "Where we have to be careful is that this research continues and future generations benefit from further advances, that we try to prevent fertility problems so that fewer people suffer from it in future," she adds. But there is one point that all fertility experts are in agreement on: there needs to be more awareness and focus surrounding fertility in general. "Once that happens," says Cummins, "it will be a natural outgrowth that male infertility is talked about." Is infertility starting to be viewed as a shared issue among couples? Barnes believes that for infertility to be viewed as a shared issue, society needs to abolish the association between male infertility and masculinity. She believes that those with an influential voice - such as the media, doctors and bloggers - can kickstart the process by talking about male infertility more openly. Whelan agrees, particularly when it comes to the role the media can play in raising awareness of male infertility. "The press needs to become our allies in this area and focus less on celebrity stories and more on everyday folks," he says. But could it be that we are already on our way to increasing focus on male infertility? Is infertility starting to be viewed as an equal issue among couples? Barnes says that in general, each generation is more open about discussing sex and reproduction. "Also," she says, "we see more egalitarian approaches to marriage and the division of labor with each generation."

"Thanks to this kind of social progress, I noticed that younger men find it easier to acknowledge and openly discuss their infertility issues and are striving for a team approach to family building with their partners. I believe we are progressing toward shared reproductive responsibility."