
Written by Editorial Team
If you’re thinking about expanding your family, the first question that arises in your mind will be whether or not it is easier to conceive the second time than the first. If you have had a difficult pregnancy, you are worried, apprehensive, and even anxious at the very thought of conceiving the second time. Sometimes, it has been found that a woman who struggled with conceiving her first child may find that the second pregnancy takes place much more easily.
Then again, a few couples who conceived easily during the first time are confronted with greater issues once they try for conceiving for the second time. This makes us take a critical lesson in human science– one cannot control fertility and also past successes in fertility don’t mean or assures a future success for it.
In This Article
Secondary infertility is an incapability to conceive a subsequent time after conceiving the first baby without any effort. According to some research that was done in this field, it was found secondary infertility is much more common than primary infertility. This means the range of couples who battle with conceiving a second child is really higher than the range of couples who had a troublesome time getting pregnant the first time.
If you plan to expand your family (ideal spacing is around 2–3 years), you are not supposed to wait as long as your first pregnancy. Even after trying for around 8–12 months, if you are incapable of getting pregnant naturally, then it is advisable to seek medical aids.
If you are above 35 years, then seeking medical advice around after trying for 5-6 months is recommended. Thus, the time interval between the first and second conception depends on the age of the couple.
Here is how age affects the second conception. A lot has changed in this modern age. Most ladies nowadays are conceived for the first time around 30 years of age. Due to various personal reasons like career, education, financial securities, etc., women tend to marry late and then start their families late. Though it is justified, the fact that your body begins to take a downward turn cannot be ignored.
If you had your first baby in early 30’s, naturally the second conception will be planned around 34 years. (How should you space your pregnancies?) Only 12% of eggs are left in women at the age of 30. Once the age increases, the eggs left will obviously decrease more and by the time you hit your 40’s, the eggs are only 3%.
It is harder to conceive the second time around if you are in your late 30s or early 40s. The number of healthy sperm from the side of your partner will also get reduced as the age progresses. All these are the primary factors that hinder the second conception.
Generally, couples are observed to follow a ‘wait and see’ perspective. But, this often makes the untreated issues become untreatable issues.This is because waiting also means that you can develop medical issues like fibroids that didn’t show up before. Read more on age and fertility.
There are several issues that can be developed in the course of the first delivery or after the first delivery, which may hinder the ability to conceive the second time. Some conditions that (may be) present during the first pregnancy, which did not hinder with the fertility and successful delivery can get worsen in due course of time. The issues may be in the male or female or both.
Experts say, even though it is very rare to conceive naturally the second time when the first pregnancy occurred after an IVF procedure, it is not completely impossible. The success rate also depends on the reasons you went for IVF for your first pregnancy.
A study is published in a journal called ‘fertility and sterility. It says that examining a group of Japanese women who used IVF to conceive their first child, 20 % conceived a second time without the help of any fertility treatment.
This can occur due to various psychological and physical reasons:
After trying unsuccessfully for around six months to conceive naturally, it is preferable to seek medical help as soon as possible. The treatment entirely depends on the reason that hinders the pregnancy. Endometriosis could be corrected with a laparoscopic treatment, stimulating ovaries to produce more eggs, etc. are some of the treatments. If the other treatment doesn’t help to conceive then the doctors may advise IVF or other infertility treatments.
With a rich experience in pregnancy and parenting, our team of experts create insightful, well-curated, and easy-to-read content for our to-be-parents and parents at all stages of parenting.Read more.
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