fertilisation

What exactly is necessary to conceive naturally?

Many successive steps are required:

• The release of a fertile ovum (egg).
• The production of healthy sperm.
• The sperm must be able to reach the ovum (requiring healthy cervical mucus and viable Fallopian tubes).
• The sperm cells must be able to fertilise the ovum.
• The fertilised embryo must be able to implant itself in the lining of the womb.

But these steps are just the key processes involved in becoming pregnant. There are many other factors that play a pivotal role in determining whether a pregnancy will result in the birth of a (hopefully healthy) baby.

The more you learn about the reproductive organs and the complex fertilisation process, the more incredible it seems that the process succeeds so often without medical help.

The description below provides a very simplified outline of what is involved in becoming pregnant and is only intended to provide an initial insight into the process. You must not forget that, with every step, many complex underlying processes are involved.

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the role of the woman

In general, a woman releases one egg or ovum a month from one of her two ovaries. This ovum is expelled from the ovary into the Fallopian tube. The ovum passes along the Fallopian tube in anticipation of meeting the male sperm. At the same time, the womb begins to prepare for the possible implantation of a fertilized ovum.

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the role of the man

The male sperm obviously plays just as critical a role in the reproductive process. After ejaculation into the vagina, the male sperm swims through the cervix of the female, and then through the womb and into one of the Fallopian tubes. Fertilisation occurs when a sperm cell encounters the ovum (egg) in the Fallopian tube and penetrates it (fertilisation).

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the role of the embryo

As soon as the ovum is successfully fertilised, it is referred to as an embryo. This embryo moves further down the Fallopian tube into the womb. In order to develop further, this embryo must attach itself to the wall of the womb, a process referred to as implantation. The factors that influence the complex implantation process are still not completely understood.

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