Help Getting Pregnant

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Initial problems conceiving naturally are most commonly rooted in hormonal imbalance and  unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as having excess weight, smoking, or being under prolonged stress.

As such, women are encouraged to begin with various natural ways to help get pregnant, which include lifestyle changes and alternative medicine.

Lifestyle Tips to Help Conceive

Women might not realize that seemingly small changes in their lifestyle can bring tremendous results in boosting their fertility and helping them achieve pregnancy. They include the following approaches:

• Fertility diet that is wholesome, balanced, and rich in phytoestrogenic/ plant-based foods can help resolve nutritional deficiencies and weight issues behind menstrual irregularities and ovulation problems.

• Fertility exercise has been shown to stimulate the endocrine system to balance its hormone production as well as help women reach an optimal body mass index (BMI) to restore ovulation for help getting pregnant.

• Alternative therapies for fertility, such as yoga or acupuncture, are mainly aimed at lowering cortisol levels, a stress hormone whose excess can disrupt hormonal equilibrium. 

Alternative Medicine to Help Get Pregnant

Fertility supplements, especially when combined with lifestyle changes, can be the best natural medicine to help get pregnant.

• Vitamins, minerals, and other compounds, such as coenzyme Q10 or omega-3 fatty acids, can fill in nutritional gaps that are disrupting the function of the female reproductive system.

• Herbs for fertility have shown to be an effective way to help get pregnant, including phytoestrogenic herbal supplements, like chaste berry, or hormone-regulating supplements, like Macafem.

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In cases when fertility problems are due to a woman's age, anatomical factors, or when the exact causes are unknown, more conventional infertility treatment options should be considered.

After 12 months of unsuccessful trying, a couple is advised to undergo diagnostic evaluations to determine, which of the following medical options can help women conceive.

Pharmacological Help to Conceive

Fertility pills and injections, such as clomiphene citrate or gonadotropins, are designed to induce ovulation and stimulate the maturation of ovarian eggs. They are also used in the first steps of in vitro fertilization (IVF) before egg harvesting. Success rates vary depending on the underlying cause and type of treatment, and most women need three to six cycles to achieve pregnancy.

Surgical Help to Conceive

Fertility surgery is often necessary when some structural abnormalities in the reproductive tract prevent the eggs from maturing, being released, traveling through the fallopian tubes, or implanting in the uterus. Surgeries for help getting pregnant range from non-invasive, out-patient procedures like hysteroscopy to invasive procedures like laparoscopy that require a few days of hospitalization.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)

ARTs consist of medical procedures to help women get pregnant when natural pregnancy is not feasible. New techniques continue being developed and approved, the most popular and effective ones being the following:

• Artificial insemination (AI), consisting of the sperm being placed in a woman's reproductive tract via a tube, is especially effective when there are issues concerning the sperm itself, such as their count or motility. A procedure called intrauterine insemination (IUI) is the most common of all AI techniques. 

• In vitro fertilization (IVF) consists of harvesting the eggs from the ovaries and fertilizing them by mixing them with the sperm or injecting them with the sperm (ICSI). IVF can be used with one's own or donor eggs or embryos as well as one's partner or donor sperm.

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When the aforementioned ways to help get pregnant have failed or are not a viable option for a couple, there are other ways that might enable them to experience parenthood.

Surrogates and Gestational Carriers

Having children via a surrogate and gestational carrier is an option for women who are unable to carry a pregnancy to term. They involve another woman carrying pregnancy after being inseminated with the sperm obtained from the couple's male partner (surrogacy) or after having an embryo from a couple's egg and sperm implanted in her uterus (gestational carrier). Both are done with the use of ARTs, thus might be considered their type.

Adoption

Some couples unable to conceive naturally might consider an adoption, which consists of becoming legal parents of children that are not their own. Adoption laws can vary greatly in different countries depending on often rigorous requirements to ensure that a couple is emotionally, financially, and otherwise ready to take responsibility for an adopted child.

Since infertility affects up to 15% of couples in their reproductive age, aspiring parents that need help getting pregnant have numerous options at their disposal. Most are advised to start with the most natural ways to get pregnant, including improving lifestyle habits through a healthy diet or exercise as well as using alternative medicine, such as hormone-regulating supplements like Macafem. Some couples might need conventional medicine's help to conceive, consisting of medications, surgery, or ART. Sometimes, however, carrying children to term is not feasible for some women, in which case couples might contemplate alternative ways to become parents with the help of a surrogate, gestational carrier, or through adoption.