Somewhere by the end of
elementary school, most children
understand the basics about the
birds and the bees. The
presentation might be very
rudimentary, but the
boy plus girl equals baby
concept likely is understood.
For a woman who wants to hedge
her chances of becoming
pregnant, a better understanding
of the biology behind the
process can at the very least
help ease the mind a little. The
truth be told, making new life
is pretty amazing and quite a
bit more complicated than one
plus one equals three.
Going back to grade-school
biology, fertilization
takes place when a woman's egg
is infiltrated by a man's sperm.
For the process to be completely
successful, that fertilized egg
must then attach to the woman's
uterus and develop into a
healthy baby.
The journey of the egg alone is
rather amazing. Eggs,
unlike sperm, do not come in
unlimited numbers. A baby
girl is born with roughly 1
million of them to last a
lifetime. These eggs are stored
in the ovaries and cannot be
reproduced. What a girl is born
with is what she has, no more,
no less.
When girls mature into women (at
least biologically), an egg that
has reached maturity will be
released into a woman's
fallopian tube. This tube, of
which are two, connects a single
ovary to the uterus. The
actual release of a mature egg
into the tube is called ovulation
and this is the starting of the
timer on that month's cycle of
fertility.
The egg (and in rare cases eggs)
that are released into the tubes
generally appear somewhere
between the 12th and 16th days
of a woman's menstrual cycle.
Once the egg(s) is released, it
has an expected lifespan of
roughly one 24-hour day, give or
take a little time. It is during
this period an egg can become
fertilized by a man's sperm.
On the man's
side of the equation, millions
of sperm cells are released
during a typical ejaculation.
Still, it is unlikely that even
a single one will make it to and
through the target.
If the love connection is made,
the first roadblock to pregnancy
has been overcome. If the sperm
and egg don't meet up on the
perilous journey to the uterus,
the woman's body will prepare
itself for a regular period.
With only an estimated 24-hour
period for conception to take
place, it is easy to see why
getting pregnant is more or less
a crapshoot. Pinpointing or at
least estimating the time of
ovulation and removing
roadblocks that stand between
the egg and the sperm can put
the odds in a couple's favor.
There are many
things that can get in the way
of the connection between the
egg and the sperm
actually happening. In some
cases, it's a question of
allowing birth control
medication to fully work its way
out of a body. In other cases, a
man's sperm count might need to
be increased to help the process
along. Regardless, it is
important to remember that
pregnancy doesn't always happen
immediately after the decision
to become so is made.
