5 Fertility Tips: How to Make Pregnancy Possible

Face it, for most 20-somethings, getting pregnant isn't top priority. Not getting pregnant is more like it. But the truth is, it's never too early to protect your fertility for the future. Otherwise, when you are ready to start a family, getting pregnant might not be as easy as you envisioned.

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In fact, infertility affects about 7.3 million U.S. couples, or roughly 12 percent of those trying to have a child, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. About one third of infertility cases can be attributed to female factors—such as blocked fallopian tubes, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or ovarian cysts—and a similar number result from male problems, such as diminished sperm production. For the remaining couples, it's a combination of problems in both partners, or it is simply unexplained.

The good news is that 85 percent to 90 percent of infertility cases can be treated with drug therapy or surgical procedures, the ASRM estimates. Fewer than 3 percent require costly advanced reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization.

To steer clear of potential roadblocks, you can do myriad things years before you decide to have a child. Here are five strategies to safeguard your fertility.

1. Don't wait too long. "Many women don't realize that their peak fertility time is in their mid-20s and already starting to fall by their late 20s," says Jamie Grifo, program director of the New York University Fertility Center. Infertility rates about double for women between the early 30s and early 40s. The percentage of married, 25-to-29-year-old women who are infertile is 9 percent, according to ASRM data. By 35 to 39, the percentage has climbed to 22 percent, and by the early 40s, it has jumped to 29 percent. Moreover, a healthy 30-year-old who's trying to get pregnant has a 20 percent chance per month. By age 40, her odds are only about 5 percent a month. And yet, approximately 20 percent of women wait until after age 35 to begin their families.

Male fertility isn't timeless, either. After 50, some men may experience a decline in sperm quality—they produce more misshapen cells and fewer that can swim well—which can make fertilization trickier.

"Don't assume fertility is a guarantee," Grifo says. "It isn't like they told us in high school. The most important thing you can do is start early."

2. Practice safe sex. Sexually transmitted diseases can drastically reduce one's ability to get pregnant—so abstinence or consistent condom use can simultaneously prevent pregnancy today and preserve fertility for the future. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are two leading causes of infertility; untreated, either can cause pelvic inflammatory disease. PID can lead to permanent scarring in the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues, which, in addition to impairing fertility, sometimes produces chronic pelvic pain and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancies, where the fetus develops outside the uterus.