Ovulation is the natural process of release of eggs from the ovaries into the fallopian tube. This physiological process happens between the twelfth to eighteenth day of the menstrual cycle in every woman’s body and is a necessity for pregnancy to happen. Every woman is born with all the eggs her body will produce in her lifetime, of which one egg is released every cycle during ovulation.

The process of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) can be a daunting one for many couples - it takes a toll on them physically, emotionally and financially. Here are some simple dos and don’ts for the pre-cycle period, during the IVF cycle and post procedure, which will make the process simpler to navigate and increase the chances of success.

A whopping 2.75 million couples suffer from infertility in India, a country where there is immense social pressure attached to having a baby and starting a family. Not being able to conceive as well as going though treatments like In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) can add to stress levels, which in turn is detrimental to the very process of conception.

Do you know that an increasing number of young couples are having trouble getting pregnant? And this increasing infertility in millennials only seems to be growing.

According to the Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction, about 10-14% of the Indian population is affected by infertility, with higher rates reported in urban areas where one in every six couples is affected. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates the overall prevalence of primary infertility in India between 3.9-16.8%.

Twenty-three year old Nisha (name changed) came to our clinic with a history of no periods. She had been married for three years but never menstruated before or after. Her uterus was small. We gave her medication to start her periods, which she had for six months. She didn’t produce any eggs due to an ovarian failure but using donor eggs and her husband’s sperm, we were able to create an embryo and transferred it into her womb. She delivered a healthy baby boy.

“We are not able to have a baby. Can you please check what is wrong with my wife (or daughter-in-law)?” This is a common complaint heard from a majority of couples that come to our infertility centre. Traditionally, this presumption held some merit. Upon testing and diagnosis, the male factor was found to be the cause of infertility in only about 15 per cent of total cases.

But this has dramatically changed over the last few decades.

Getting pregnant, carrying the pregnancy to term and giving birth to a healthy baby is a complicated procedure. With women climbing up the professional ladder and becoming an equal part of the workforce, getting married and starting a family are often delayed.

This factor has had an immediate impact on increase in infertility cases in the country.

Not being able to have a baby comes with its fair share of unsolicited advice on how to conceive from all and sundry. But not all of what is said is supported by medical research and could be detrimental to couples trying to conceive as they may delay seeking timely medical help. We look at some of the most common myths surrounding infertility.

More than 40 years since the first In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) baby was born and was looked at as a “miracle” of science through fertility treatments that has come a long way. It offers the chance and choice to couples, struggling thereby to start a family for bearing biological babies of their own.

About 8-10 per cent of couples across the globe experience the struggle of conceiving of their own, putting the figure to a whopping 60-80 million globally.

With infertility on the rise, medical research now recommends that a couple that has been trying to conceive for a time-frame of six months and is unsuccessful should seek help, as against the one year wait which was the benchmark earlier.

After 4-5 months of trying, couples need to do some self-introspection. You can make simple modifications to your lifestyle to put road-blocks out of the way and