Understanding female fertility

It may sound obvious, but you’ll need to stop taking or using any contraception and try to have sex every two to three days, with sperm entering the vagina.

There’s no need to have sex in any special position or to stay lying down after. The natural shape of the vagina encourages sperm into the womb.

Ovulation is when you release an egg, which, on average, happens 14 days before your period, based on an average cycle of 28 days.

To get pregnant, you'll need to have sex during your fertile window. This includes the day of ovulation, and five days before.

It helps to know how to find your fertile window, including methods like ovulation prediction kits.

Experts recommend also having sex through the whole month in case your ovulation happens at different time than expected.

When you ovulate, your body temperature rises slightly, and your vaginal discharge becomes clearer and wetter. Home ovulation kits can also help predict ovulation.

None of the above are signs of fertility, as they don’t tell you about the quality of your eggs or whether you can get pregnant.

For this, you need a fertility assessment.

The fertile window is likely to fall between day 9-15 of your cycle, lasting for around five days plus ovulation day.

This estimate is based on an average cycle of 28 days. In reality, it can vary between people and between each cycle.

For women, your most fertile years are when you’re in your twenties. Fertility starts to gradually lower when you reach your thirties.

8 in 10 couples get pregnant within a year of regular unprotected sex, but it depends on your health, age and fertility. 

For women, fertility is at its highest in the late teens and twenties. It starts reducing in your thirties until you are no longer fertile, usually by age 45.

With more people waiting until their late thirties to start a family, fertility preservation is a helpful option. It’s worth considering if you know you want children but not yet.

As with most health-related concerns, fertility is likely to have a genetic influence. But for most people, it’s not possible to say for sure whether infertility is caused by genetics unless you have a specific condition.

Genetic conditions known to cause infertility in women:

• Turner syndrome (rare)

• Fragile X syndrome (uncommon)

• Kallmann syndrome (very rare)

If you’re worried about a genetic condition affecting your fertility, speak to a specialist.

A fertility assessment gives you a fuller picture of your reproductive health. This includes whether there are any conditions affecting your chances of pregnancy and if you can do anything to help.

For women, a fertility assessment can include:

• AMH blood test, measures a hormone that indicates how many eggs you have

• AFC ultrasound, which is a scan that looks for any abnormalities

• Reproductive hormone tests, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and progesterone

Learn more about our fertility assessments.

Painful periods might point to an underlying condition that could affect fertility, such as endometriosis.

When you ovulate, you might experience bloating or pain. But just because you’re ovulating, it doesn’t always mean you are fertile as this also depends on the quality of your eggs.

Having an abortion or miscarriage does not affect your fertility unless you get a complication like an infection.

If you’re worried about pregnancy or fertility after a miscarriage, speak to one of our expert team for confidential advice and support.