How to Increase Your Pregnancy Odds

Almost everyone assumes that when they get to the point in their lives where they want to have a baby, they will. But for many couples, deciding to have a baby is the easy part, getting pregnant proves to be much more difficult.

While many causes of infertility are hereditary or due to health problems beyond your control, reproductive experts say there are a few steps you can take to preserve and enhance your ability to have children.

Many believe that a healthy lifestyle will enable them to conceive when they are ready. Not so, according to Dr. Steven Ory, of IVF Florida Reproductive Associates and an associate clinical professor at the University of Miami.

While the benefits of a healthy diet, exercise and overall good health are important factors, and significantly increases your odds of conceiving; and people who are very unhealthy do have a higher incidence of infertility, having this healthy lifestyle will not ensure your ability to conceive.

The prevalence of infertility in the United States is estimated to be as high as one in six couples of childbearing age.

Dr. Samuel Pang, medical director of the Reproductive Science Center of New England, estimates that about one-third of his patients' difficulties are due to a woman's health problem and another third is due to a problem with a man's sperm.

The final third consists of couples who have waited until later in life to try and conceive. Doctors say maternal age in particular is one of the most important factors couples need to consider.

"Sociologically we've changed, but our biology hasn't changed very much," says Dr. Richard Scott, director of Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey. "Women make a lifetime supply of eggs when they're in the fetus. When they're gone, they're gone."

A woman's fertility starts to decline around the age of 27, due to the aging and depletion of her eggs. For those under 30, it's estimated that the chance of getting pregnant in any one cycle is 20 percent to 30 percent. By age 40, it falls to 5 percent, according to the American Fertility Association.