11 Questions About Conceiving You'd Probably Never Ask

Confession time. There are a lot of things I want to know about fertility that I’ve never been able to bring myself to ask. There are probably all sorts of crazy and outrageous questions that have occurred to you too, which don’t exactly spring to your lips when you’re sitting in front of your doctor in a paper gown. Never fear though, because here are the answers to all the questions you’ve been dying to find out about, but haven’t been able to ask.

Is there a sex position that’s best for conceiving?
Good news here: whatever floats your boat works just fine. Most experts agree that any position that deposits sperm next to the cervix is effective. Some women worry that if they are on top, sperm will leak out immediately. Semen is very thick when it is ejaculated and then liquefies with time. This keeps it next to the cervix long enough for the sperm to forge ahead. However, Victoria Jennings, Ph.D., director of Georgetown University’s Institute for Reproductive Health in Washington, D.C., points out that there is a common belief that missionary position is best. “There is not actual evidence for this, but it certainly can’t hurt.”

Is there any kind of body type that’s best for conceiving? I’m flat-chested and thin-hipped. Are women with more curves more fertile?
“Fertile women come in all sizes,” says Sandra L. Glahn, co-author of The Infertility Companion (Zondervan, 2004), who points out that women of all body types are able to get pregnant. However, Randy Morris, M.D., associate clinical professor of reproductive endocrinology at the University of Illinois School of Medicine in Chicago, says a recent study has shown that women with larger breasts and slimmer waists have higher levels of estrogen and progesterone, the hormones associated with fertility, during their menstrual cycles. The study did not compare pregnancy rates though. Since you can’t control your basic body shape, focus instead on staying healthy and timing sex during your fertile period.

I think my husband masturbates sometimes. Should he stop while we’re trying to conceive?
When you’re trying to conceive, frequent masturbation around your fertile period can temporarily reduce your partner’s sperm count. But occasional masturbation is not a concern. Men have a 24/7 sperm factory at work; two days of ejaculation in a row have no effect on sperm count, but more than that could decrease it. If you’re concerned, suggest that he abstain from masturbating during your fertile period when you’ll be having regular sex together. But for the rest of the month it’s not a problem. In fact, if you’re not having sex very often when you’re not “trying,” your husband might even get a benefit (besides the obvious one) from masturbating. “Abstaining from ejaculation for too long is also detrimental to male fertility,” explains Michael Bohrer, M.D., reproductive endocrinologist with Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey in Morristown, and former director of the IVF (in vitro fertilization) program at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Jersey.