Between 11 and 15% of American couples suffer from infertility. Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive a child despite regular unprotected sex for at least one year.
The Enlistalo Fertilidad México team has listed the ten most common myths about infertility. It was important to demystify and dispel these myths, based on scientific evidence, to help you see more clearly and break the taboos.
The woman is the main cause of infertility in a couple.
Although historically women have long been considered infertile when they were unable to become pregnant. Today we know that they are the cause of infertility in couples only 35% of the time. Also, 35% of infertility is attributed to men, 20% of cases are attributed to both partners and 10% of cases remain unknown, according to the Tri-City Medical Center in California. Nothing to overwhelm women, therefore.
Fertility treatments and clinics are unnatural
This reasoning is as false as saying that a sick person should not be offered appropriate treatment because his or her immune system should be able to defend itself. On the contrary, fertility clinics assess whether or not there are obstacles or problems that they would be able to solve to let nature do its work.
Raising your legs after intercourse is beneficial to fertilization
Although it may seem wise to keep your legs up for 20 minutes after sex, it doesn’t really increase a woman’s chances of getting pregnant. Since each ejaculation contains millions of sperm, the potential loss of a few thousand sperm has a negligible effect on the chances of the egg being fertilized. On the contrary, a study conducted in the Netherlands points out that women are more likely to become pregnant if they get up and walk after sex.
No orgasm, no child
The reason why this statement is false lies in the simple fact that the only way to conceive is through the fertilization of an egg by a sperm. This can happen regardless of whether or not a woman has an orgasm – they are two completely independent processes.
If you reduce your stress level, you will get pregnant.
Everybody knows a woman who was supposedly too stressed to get pregnant and who managed to do so after having completely given up the idea. This is one of the most common myths about infertility. It is actually a form of self-accusation that women endure when they are unable to get pregnant in high stress situations.
Infertility can cause a lot of stress and anxiety, but there is little evidence to suggest otherwise. If there are no physiological disorders to report, women can conceive even under extremely stressful conditions (war, trauma, etc.).
Sperm count cannot change
Smoking, overweight, hot tubs and alcohol are associated with a decrease in sperm count. Therefore, quitting some of these habits may not only be beneficial to your overall health, but may also increase sperm production and thus sperm count. Interestingly, one study has shown that there is a correlation between men who cycle more than five hours a week and have lower sperm counts. It would then be necessary to suspend intensive cycling for a while if you are trying to improve your sperm quality.
The contraceptive pill causes infertility
This received idea is very anchored in the collective unconscious. However, there is no proven evidence that the contraceptive pill has any effect on a woman’s fertility once she stops taking it. Many studies have examined the possible effects of oral contraception on fertility. One in particular, which studied more than 60,000 women in South Africa, concluded that they had no positive or negative impact on fertility.
Age does not affect male fertility
To say that men’s fertility remains stable throughout their lives, despite their age, in contrast to women, is an unfounded statement. If women have to face menopause, men see the “quality” of their sperm weakening with age. This phenomenon is accompanied by an increasing number of spermatozoa containing fragmented DNA, which may be the cause of certain congenital diseases in the future child.
