It’s one of life’s ironies: when your body is at its peak ability to have a baby is often not when you are actually ready to build a family. Breaking it down for us, Dr. Shruti Malik of our Fair Oaks, VA, location talked to Business Insider to answer the question: how long does it take to get pregnant?
How long does it take to get pregnant?
Malik tells would-be parents not to worry if they don’t conceive immediately. For most fertile couples, it takes on average 5 to 7 months to conceive.
On average, a couple who is having unprotected sex and has no history of infertility, and the woman is younger than 35, has a 15 to 20 percent chance of successfully conceiving each month and the timing needs to be just right. “I have a lot of patients who spent a good portion of their adolescence trying to prevent pregnancy, and then later find out that it’s more difficult than one would necessarily presume,” says Dr. Malik.
When to see a specialist?
While there may be a 15 to 20 percent chance of conception each month at a woman’s peak fertility, this rate declines throughout her 30s and 40s. If a woman is younger than 35 and hasn’t become pregnant within 12 months, both partners should have their fertility evaluated.
Since maternal age is such a vital indicator of fertility as egg quality diminishes and the likelihood for miscarriage and chromosomally abnormal eggs increases with age, the recommended window for trying to conceive without assistance decreases after the age of 35. For a woman 35 to 39, if she hasn’t conceived within 6 months, the couple should be evaluated. And finally, for women 40 and over, the window reduces to 3 months.
“If she has not conceived in that window, there is a higher likelihood that there may be other factors that are contributing to that couple’s difficulty in conceiving. And at that point in time, it warrants seeing a physician or fertility specialist,” Malik explained.
How long does it take to get pregnant? Talk to a specialist at Shady Grove Fertility. Call 1-877-971-7755.
