Is There Any Truth to Old Wives Tales, Myths and Superstitions About Conceiving ?

A gamut of old wives tales surrounding pregnancy and how to get that way have been around for generations. Let me tell you about two of those tales that may (or may not) have been instrumental way back when I was trying to get pregnant.

It was the 1980's and I had been married for several years. We decided it was time to start a family, not that we could afford one. We couldn't. Not that we knew what parenting was all about. We didn't. But somehow, God put a desire in the hearts of these young, twenty-somethings to have a baby. Now, try as we might (and try we did), something wasn't working out just right. Each month, I was disappointed as, once again, the evidence showed that I was still not pregnant.

After awhile, I became a little desperate and began tuning in to methods I had dismissed as simply old wives tales. There was a theory that if, after trying to conceive, you stood on your head for a bit, it would help. Let me just say, I am not the most graceful or coordinated person, so this was not an easy feat. Still, I wanted a baby so I did it, several times.

In the meantime, I'd read in the newspaper (Dear Abby's column to be exact) that if men wore boxers instead of briefs, that would help with their fertility. While there is no medical evidence to support this, the idea was out there so we had to try it. Besides, could Dear Abby be wrong?

Soon our efforts paid off and we were blessed with a baby boy! And later, two baby girls! Did these unconventional methods work for us? Who's to say? But, if I were twenty-something and had to do it all over, I'd try them again. After all, what could it hurt, unless, of course, I fell off the bed while standing on my head!