Oh Baby - Orgasm and TTC
One of the popular theories that makes the circuit on pregnancy and TTC boards and blogs is this: in order to conceive, you need to have an orgasm during intercourse. That is, specifically, the woman has to have an orgasm during intercourse. (For the man, the question is a lot more cut and dried, barring any fertility treatments in which the sperm are extracted surgically from the testes).
So, does a woman really have to have an orgasm in order to conceive? Does it even help at all?
Well, a hundred years ago it seemed to matter. Women around the turn of the twentieth century would routinely see a doctor when they were having fertility problems. Often, doctors would prescribe female orgasm to help. The idea was that the orgasm would help the sperm get “sucked up” into the uterus. There was even a technical medical name for this phenomenon: “up suck.”
By the 1950s, scientists decided it was time to put this theory to the test. They mixed artificial semen with a radiographic dye and placed it into a cervical cap inside a woman. The woman was then instructed to pleasure herself to orgasm in the lab. The scientists then took x-rays of the woman, to see if the fake semen had indeed experienced up suck.
It didn’t.
Having said all of that, the enjoyment of sex can certainly improve fertility in other ways. It can make a woman more excited about the process, for example. Enjoyment of sex is a natural and healthy ingredient in the process. However, orgasm isn’t at all requisite to conception. In fact, it doesn’t affect it one way or another.
In many ways, this is liberating. If female orgasm isn’t a requirement for becoming pregnant, women don’t need the pressure to orgasm during sex. They can simply enjoy it as it happens, and not believe that they need an orgasm. Really, that becomes more like doing homework than sex, and no woman (or man, for that matter) wants to add that kind of pressure, especially if they’re already experiencing fertility problems.
2 Responses to “Oh Baby - Orgasm and TTC”
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January 20th, 2010 at 11:00 am
hello,
i want to conceive a baby.i was pregnant a months back but due to some there was a missed abortion . now i want to conceive again doctor said there is some hormone thyroid problem TSH has been increased by 2% they have given tablet to consume … just suggest me some tips to get pregnant
January 21st, 2010 at 7:42 am
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES AND THE TREATMENT OF LOW SPERM MOTILITY.