Infertility Questions You’re Embarrassed to Ask

On top of everything else infuriating about infertility, it can also be embarrassing.  Today’s your chance to ask those embarrassing questions that you would prefer to not ask even your own doctor.  Our guest expert is Dr. Jim Toner, MD, PHD, a board certified specialist in reproductive endocrinology and infertility with the Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine.  For this show’s discussion, his doctoral training in psychology may also come in handy. We will talk about sexually transmitted diseases, venereal disease, abortions, mixed emotions about motherhood, tampon use, sexual positions, frequency of sex, and any other questions you have about how to get pregnant and what is standing in your way.

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  • Can previous sexually transmitted disease (venereal diseases) of either the female or male partner affect current day fertility?
  • Can tampons cause infertility or difficulty trying to get pregnant?
  • Can previous abortions affect fertility?
  • If a man has no trouble achieving an erection, does that mean he is likely not infertile?
  • If a man has been able to impregnate a women when he was younger, does that lessen the chance that he is infertile now?
  • Can a man with erectile dysfunction still get a woman pregnant?
  • Can a woman help with the collection of a semen sample?
  • What sexual position increases the odds of getting pregnant?
  • Does the female orgasm help a woman get pregnant.  Is it necessary for a woman to have an orgasm to get pregnant.
  • What’s the maximum frequency for optimizing your chances of getting pregnant.
  • Should you withhold from having sex prior to the fertile time of the woman’s cycle in order for the man’s sperm count to build up?
  • Should a woman who is trying to get pregnant douche either before or after sex?
  • Does it help to keep the semen in the woman’s vagina after intercourse?
  • Does it help for the man and woman to stay together for a longer period of time after sex.
  • After intercourse, does it help to achieve a pregnancy for the woman to remain lying down after sex?
  • After intercourse, does it help to achieve a pregnancy for the woman to raise her hips or inverting her body by putting her legs up against a wall or in the air?
  • Does mixed emotions about getting pregnant affect a woman’s fertility?
  • In general can our emotional state affect getting pregnant?
  • Does clinical depression reduce fertility?
  • How can a woman use her cervical mucus to determine her most fertile time and the day of ovulation?
  • How much caffeine or coffee affects fertility?
  • How much alcohol affects fertility?
  • Should a woman diet if she is trying to get pregnant?