What Is The Choosy Uterus Theory?
The odds of getting pregnant in the first month after starting to try are only 20-30%. The longer you try to get pregnant, the better your chances are. Around 80% of couples get pregnant within the first year of trying. However, not everyone is so fortunate, as many factors can reduce the chances of conceiving. One intriguing factor is the 'choosy uterus' theory. In this article, you'll learn what it takes to get pregnant and why your uterus might be sabotaging you.
Besides being able to create and carry a new life, the female body might also be able to choose which life to carry. The idea of a choosy uterus has been around for a long time. According to this theory, a woman's body can decide which embryos to nurture and which ones to terminate.
How does human conception work?
To understand how our bodies pick the most viable embryos, let's first see how conception happens. Human conception is largely a process of chance. While unplanned pregnancies happen all the time, getting pregnant intentionally isn't so easy and can take many tries and years to happen. Many factors need to align for the right conditions to form.
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Once a month, one of the ovaries releases a mature egg cell (ovum) into the fallopian tube. This process, called ovulation, happens around the middle of the menstrual cycle and lasts only 24-48 hours before the egg is reabsorbed by the body.
If you want to get pregnant, having sexual intercourse during this fertility window gives you the best chance of conceiving. During male ejaculation, millions of sperm cells are released into the female reproductive tract. The sperm cells then travel through the cervix into the fallopian tubes.
If a sperm cell meets the egg cell in the fallopian tube, it penetrates the egg's outer membrane. Around ovulation, the cervical mucus becomes thinner and less acidic, making it easier for the sperm to survive and reach the egg. During this time, the sperm undergoes biochemical changes called capacitation, which helps to fertilize the egg. Once near the egg, the sperm releases enzymes to break down the outer layers surrounding the egg. Then, the genetic material from the sperm and egg combines, creating a single cell called a zygote.
The zygote begins dividing into multiple cells as it travels down the fallopian tube toward the uterus. This bundle of dividing cells is called a morula and then a blastocyst. About a week after fertilization, the blastocyst implants itself into the wall of the uterus, where it can continue developing into an embryo and fetus over the course of a full-term pregnancy. As the embryo attaches, the placenta forms to provide the growing baby with all the essential functions and nutrients.
Why getting pregnant could be considered a miracle?
Around 11% of women and 9% of men have some sort of fertility issues. As many as 15% of couples can't conceive naturally after one year of trying. Many different factors influence your chances of getting pregnant, from health conditions and age to genetics and lifestyle. However, regardless of how quickly some couples manage to get pregnant, the phrase "a birth is a miracle" isn't far off.
Here's why:
The fertility window is very short each month. Ovulation, the period when an egg is available for fertilization, lasts only 24-48 hours each month, and sometimes it doesn't occur at all. Yes, sperm cells can survive in the female body for around five days, but this time has to coincide with the fertility window.
Before ovulation, the pH of the vagina is often too acidic for sperm to survive long-term. The vaginal mucus is also drier, preventing sperm cells from traveling to the uterus. At the same time, the majority of the sperm cells in each ejaculation aren't viable, and even those that are might never find their way to the egg.
On top of everything, the female immune system might attack sperm cells. Studies have found that seminal fluid stimulates an immune response in a woman's body. That means a female body tries to get rid of the sperm cells and sees them as intruders.
What is a choosy uterus?
The "choosy uterus" theory refers to a concept in reproductive biology suggesting that the uterus may have a selective role in determining which embryos are allowed to implant and develop into a pregnancy. The theory suggests that the uterus can somehow recognize the quality or genetic compatibility of an embryo.
It may support the implantation and growth of embryos that are healthier or genetically more compatible with the mother. However, this theory is only a theory and hasn't been proven. But if it's true, it'd mean that getting pregnant and carrying a pregnancy to term is even more challenging than we thought.
The choosy uterus theory also challenges the common belief that the uterus is a passive environment in the conception process. If true, it would mean the uterus sends biochemical signals to assess the quality of the embryo. The uterus could enhance the chances of a successful pregnancy and healthy offspring, which could give us humans an evolutionary advantage.
What happens to the embryos or sperm cells that are rejected?
If you're actively trying to get pregnant, you might wonder what happens in your body when it rejects sperm or doesn't let embryos implant. If the 'choosy uterus' theory holds true, the female reproductive tract's biochemical environment or immune system response could kill or immobilize some sperm cells.
As for the embryos, if they are unfit for implantation, the female immune system could also attack and reject them at a very early stage. Biochemical factors like hormones or protein signals could cause some embryos to fail to develop properly after implantation. If the uterus rejects sperm cells and embryos at a very early stage, you likely wouldn't even notice it. Even implanted embryos that die within the first trimester of pregnancy, resulting in a miscarriage, often go unnoticed because they resemble a heavy menstrual period. In fact, as many as 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage.
Is there a way to increase your chances of getting pregnant?
There are ways to increase your chances of getting pregnant.
- Track your ovulation and have sex during your fertile window, which is typically the 5 days leading up to and including ovulation day. Use ovulation predictor kits, track your basal body temperature, or monitor cervical mucus changes to pinpoint ovulation. However, more frequent intercourse doesn't always lead to a higher chance of fertilization. The more ejaculations a man has, the lower his sperm count and sperm motility are. To increase your chances, it's better to have sexual intercourse a few days before the predicted ovulation and during ovulation.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or underweight can affect your menstrual cycle and decrease fertility.
- A few months before you start trying for a baby, improve your lifestyle. Avoid smoking and excessive alcohol, and reduce stress levels through exercise, yoga, or meditation. Take a prenatal vitamin with folic acid. Folic acid may help prevent certain birth defects. Also, studies show that planned pregnancies tend to be healthier.
However, your partner should also prepare for pregnancy. It's common to believe that the man's role is only to fertilize the egg, but half of the embryo's genes come from the father's side. If his sperm is of low quality, the uterus might reject it or it might impact the baby’s health.
A few months before starting to try for a baby, your partner should also do everything to improve his lifestyle: quit smoking, limit alcohol intake, eat healthier, and exercise more. This will increase your chances not only of getting pregnant but also of having a healthy baby.
However, even if you maintain a perfect lifestyle and try all possible ways to increase your chances of getting pregnant, some people have a harder time getting pregnant than others. While it’s a devastating experience to try getting pregnant with no luck, it’s important to know that you have options.
Choosing IVF
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of assisted reproductive technology. During the procedure, a woman's eggs are fertilized with a man's sperm outside of the body in a laboratory setting.
For IVF to be successful, it's important to retrieve as many viable eggs as possible. For this, a woman takes fertility medications to stimulate her ovaries to produce multiple egg-containing follicles rather than just the single egg typically released during a natural cycle. When the follicles are mature, the eggs are retrieved using a minor surgical procedure.
A man must provide sperm for the eggs to be inseminated. After insemination, the fertilized eggs grow and develop in the laboratory for a few days. A few healthy embryos are then selected and transferred into the woman's uterus through a thin catheter inserted through the cervix.
For many couples, IVF is the only way to get pregnant. It has a success rate of 41-47% if you're under 35. The chances drop after the age of 35, but it's still possible to get pregnant through IVF even after 40. However, it's important to keep in mind that the success rates drop, and the pregnancy itself can be more challenging. On top of that, it might take more than one round of IVF, and the procedure is emotionally and physically challenging, not to mention expensive.
Final words
Getting pregnant can be challenging and may take years to happen. However, there are ways to increase your chances. With modern medicine advancing every day, more and more couples can enjoy parenthood. We hope this article has provided you with a better understanding of what your body goes through during the process of getting pregnant. If you want to know more about pregnancy and women’s health, we invite you to check our blog.
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