Why does it take some people longer to conceive than others?

Question

One of my uncles and his wife have been married for almost 15 years and they want kids, but they can't conceive, whereas, my sister and her husband have been married for 8 years and have 2 kids. Why is it difficult for some people to conceive?

Answer 1

Everyones different. Some women have problems inside that they dont know about. They should be seeing a doctor if theyve been trying and its not happening for them. It could be your uncle too. Maybe he doesnt produce enough sperm....who knows, Im not a doctor. My husband had a vasectomy reversal and it took me 9 months to conceive. The doc only gave us a 50/50 chance. I ended up with a 8lb 14 ounce healthy baby boy.*

Answer 2

I don;t know! But I know how you feel! Why is it that people who don't want babies and end up pregnant and those of us who want them so badly....have to wait! Maybe its God's way of showing what compassion is to those who don't want kids....you know! My hubby and I were talking about that last weekend! And that's the only answer we could really come up with! Maybe God is just waiting for the perfect time!

Answer 3

To some degree it's just luck.  A normal, healthy couple has about a 25% chance of conceiving every month of actively 'trying'.  (And if they aren't really 'trying' but are just accepting what happens, and aren't having s*x very often, the percentages are lower.)  So it can easily take 6-12 months to get pregnant, if the roll of the dice isn't in your favor.

But if a couple has been trying for several years without success, there is usually a physical/medical reason -- and there are lots of possibilities.  

The woman might not be ovulating, or doing so very rarely.

She might have blocked tubes so the egg can't get where it needs to be, or the sperm can't find the egg.

She might have thick/hostile cervical mucus that keeps the sperm from getting through.



She might have a short luteul phase -- her hormonal pattern is such that she has a period before the fertilized egg has a chance to implant in the uterus.  

She could have antibodies that cause her body to destroy the sperm, or lead to repeated, very early miscarriages.

Or the man might have too few sperm, or his sperm might be weak or poorly developed, so they can't fertilize the egg.

In a few cases nothing obvious is found.  Medical science still doesn't understand everything that is involved in making a baby, so an occassional couple has 'unexplained infertility' ... which just means that there is SOMETHING wrong, but the doctors aren't smart enough to figure out what it is.

(Fortunately, there are treatments for most types of infertility, so if a couple is willing/ able to go through treatment [can be VERY costly if insurance doesn't cover it], they have a good chance of ending up with a baby eventually.