Advice For Getting Pregnant (Part 2)

Common questions answered on how to get pregnant faster (Cont'd)
By Pamela Paul

Do guys have eternal fertility?
"Women's fertility starts to decline in their early thirties and then drops even faster in their late thirties and forties. Men's fertility does the same thing, but less rapidly," says Harry Fisch, M.D., director of the male reproductive center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Testosterone levels decline about 1 percent per year in men after age 30, and as a result of that, their sperm counts can start falling.

There are a few signs that a guy's sperm may need a tune-up, says Fisch. "Is he overweight? Testosterone is broken down in the fat cells, especially those in the belly, so the more fat the man has, the lower his testosterone levels tend to be. Does he have small (less than one and a half inches in diameter) or low-hanging testicles? That can be a sign of varicose veins in the area, which can cause low sperm counts and low testosterone." Early interventions can treat these problems, and fertility treatments can boost your partner's chances as well as your own. For men who have defective sperm or a low sperm count, "we have basically solved male infertility in 99 percent of cases, thanks to procedures that can isolate the best sperm from the rest," says John Jain, M.D., a reproductive endocrinologist in Santa Monica, California.

Could taking antidepressants (or any other meds) get in the way of making a baby?
Antidepressants are one of the most common drugs American women take long-term, and in general, these meds don't affect the menstrual cycle or fertility (unlike certain drugs for bipolar disorder, which can have an impact on fertility). Doctors discourage patients from quitting cold turkey because the risk of relapse of depression would be very high, and the idea is that a happy, healthy woman is more likely to have a healthy pregnancy. No antidepressants are "approved" for use in pregnancy or breast-feeding, but they may still be taken if the benefits outweigh the possible risks. While there have been concerns that drugs such as Prozac (fluoxetine), Celexa (citalopram), and Zoloft (sertraline) might increase the risk of birth defects, the majority of studies have not found this to be the case.

But other drugs can interfere with your fertility. For instance, some (not all) experts say that antibiotics can change your cervical mucus patterns, making it difficult to tell when you're ovulating, and cold medicine with antihistamines can thicken or dry up cervical mucus, so it's harder for his sperm to connect with your egg. If you're taking any medication regularly—including herbal ones—run your pregnancy plans by your pharmacist or prescribing doctor to discuss whether the risks of quitting outweigh the benefits. Same goes for your partner.

Can fretting about getting pregnant prevent it from happening?
Try to chill, but mainly for your peace of mind. According to a survey for Resolve, the National Infertility Association, 64 percent of women mistakenly think stress, which isn't a medical condition, is what makes conception difficult. In fact, many doctors also believe there's a link between stress and fertility, but no scientific study proves that being frazzled hurts your chances of getting pregnant. "Clearly, women all over the world are under severe life-threatening stress and they still get pregnant," says Shari Lusskin, M.D., director of reproductive psychiatry at New York University Langone Medical Center. "So why can't some highly stressed career women? We really don't know if stress is a cause." One theory: "Too much emotional or physical stress—think constant worrying or training for a marathon—can lower your progesterone levels, which could interfere with ovulation," says Sami David, M.D., assistant clinical professor of ob-gyn at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and coauthor of Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility. "But we don't know enough to draw easy conclusions about a link."

So for now, the best advice is to relax and try not to let the ticking of your biological clock drown out everything else in your life. And remember: The odds of getting pregnant are in your favor.