Youths and Fertility
Our bodies are made to reproduce
Understanding the way our bodies work may help students understand their own fertility and reproductive choices
The female reproductive system
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How our Bodies Work
Our bodies are like a computer each organ works to support another
Basel Temperature
The temperature method (aka, basal temperature method) helps you predict when you’re going to ovulate by tracking the changes in your body temperature during your menstrual cycle.
Ovulation
Ovulation refers to the release of an egg from an ovary. It usually happens around 12–16 days before the next period. Some people may feel pain in their lower abdomen at this time, and a person's discharge may change in color and consistency. Tracking it can be an important part of fertility awareness
Conception
Within 24 hours of ovulation: Sperm fertilizes an egg (conception occurs). About six days after fertilization: The fertilized egg implants into your uterine lining. Around day 21: If conception and implantation occurred during this menstrual cycle,
Sex Education
Comprehensive sex education is a critical component of sexual and reproductive health care.
Developing a healthy sexuality is a core developmental milestone for child and adolescent health.
Youth need developmentally appropriate information about their sexuality and how it relates to their bodies, community, culture, society, mental health, and relationships with family, peers, and romantic partners.
Using pictures, charts, illustrations help really emphasise the message
Conception - How?
To become pregnant, the following steps must occur:
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Sperm transport. The sperm must be deposited and transported to the site of fertilisation.
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Egg transport. Ovulation must occur and the egg must be "picked up" by the tube.
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Fertilisation and embryo development. Union between the sperm and egg must result.
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Implantation. The embryo must implant and begin to grow in the uterus.
Sperm Transport
The transport of sperm depends on several factors:
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The sperm must be capable of propelling themselves through the environment of the female vagina and cervix.
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This environment, which is under cyclic hormonal control, must be favorable to admit the sperm without destroying them.
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The sperm must possess the capability of converting to a form that can penetrate the cell membrane of the egg (capacitation).
Following ejaculation, the semen forms a gel that protects it from the acidic environment of the vagina. The gel is liquefied within 20 to 30 minutes by enzymes from the prostate gland. This liquefaction is important for freeing the sperm so transportation may occur. The seminal plasma is left in the vagina.
The protected sperm with the greatest motility travel through the layers of cervical mucus that guard the entrance to the uterus. During ovulation, this barrier becomes thinner and changes its acidity, creating a friendlier environment for the sperm. The cervical mucus acts as a reservoir for extended sperm survival.
Once the sperm have entered the uterus, contractions propel the sperm upward into the fallopian tubes. The first sperm enter the tubes minutes after ejaculation. The first sperm, however, are likely not the fertilising sperm. Motile sperm can survive in the female reproductive tract for up to five days.
Conception and fertilisation are two different parts (or steps) of the same process. Conception is the first step, where an egg and sperm join. Fertilisation is another step, where the joined sperm and egg plant like a seed into your uterine lining.
Egg Transportation
Egg transport begins at ovulation and ends once the egg reaches the uterus.
Around day 14: Ovulation occurs. Within 24 hours of ovulation: Sperm fertilizes an egg (conception occurs). About six days after fertilization: The fertilised egg implants into your uterine lining. Around day 21: If conception and implantation occurred during this menstrual cycle, pregnancy occurs
Timeline of getting pregnant
To calculate the menstrual cycle from the first day of menstrual bleeding to the start of the next first day of menstrual bleeding.
Most menstrual cycles are around 28 days long. The exact time you ovulate varies depending on how long your menstrual cycle is.
The process of getting pregnant in a 28-day menstrual cycle is:
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Day one: First day of your period.
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Around day 14: Ovulation occurs.
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Within 24 hours of ovulation: Sperm fertilises an egg (conception occurs).
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About six days after fertilisation: The fertilised egg implants into your uterine lining.
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Around day 21: If conception and implantation occurred during this menstrual cycle, you're pregnant. However, getting a positive pregnancy test may take another five to seven days.
Conditions such as pelvic infections and endometriosis can permanently impair the function of the fallopian tubes, due to scarring or damage to the fimbriae.
Fertilisation and Embryo Development
Following ovulation, the egg is capable of fertilization for only 12 to 24 hours.
Contact between the egg and sperm is random.
Once the egg arrives at a specific portion of the tube, called the ampullar-isthmic junction, it rests for another 30 hours. Fertilisation — sperm union with the egg — occurs in this portion of the tube.
The fertilised egg then begins a rapid descent to the uterus.
The period of rest in the tube appears to be necessary for full development of the fertilised egg and for the uterus to prepare to receive the egg.
Defects in the fallopian tube may impair transport and increase the risk of a tubal pregnancy, also called ectopic pregnancy.
A membrane surrounding the egg, called the zona pellucida, has two major functions in fertilisation.
First, the zona pellucida contains sperm receptors that are specific for human sperm. Second, once penetrated by the sperm, the membrane becomes impermeable to penetration by other sperm.
Following penetration, a series of events set the stage for the first cell division. The single-cell embryo is called a zygote. Over the course of the next seven days, the human embryo undergoes multiple cell divisions in a process called mitosis.
At the end of this transition period, the embryo becomes a mass of very organised cells, called a blastocyst. It's now believed that as women get older, this process of early embryo development is increasingly impaired due to diminishing egg quality.
Fertilisation
Once the embryo reaches the blastocyst stage, approximately five to six days after fertilisation, it hatches out of its zona pellucida and begins the process of implantation in the uterus.
In nature, 50 percent of all fertilised eggs are lost before a woman's missed menses.
In the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) process as well, an embryo may begin to develop but not make it to the blastocyst stage — the first stage at which those cells destined to become the fetus separate from those that will become the placenta.
The blastocyst may implant but not grow, or the blastocyst may grow but stop developing before the two week time at which a pregnancy can be detected. The receptivity of the uterus and the health of the embryo are important for the implantation process.
How does conception occur?
Conception (or fertilisation) is when sperm and an egg join together. It’s one of the many steps that happen to create a pregnancy.
Conception is closely related to a person’s menstrual cycle. A menstrual cycle describes the sequence of events that occur within your body as it prepares for the possibility of pregnancy each month.
Women or people assigned female at birth (AFAB) ovulate during their menstrual cycle. Ovulation is when your ovary releases an egg for fertilisation. Tiny finger-like structures called fimbriae help guide the egg through your fallopian tubes towards your uterus. During this journey through your fallopian tubes, an egg can be fertilised by sperm.
Sperm production begins in the testicles of men or people assigned male at birth (AMAB). During ejaculation, millions of sperm cells are set free with the sole purpose of finding an egg to fertilise. When you have unprotected sex, sperm cells swim up through your vagina and into your fallopian tubes. Millions of sperm battle to reach and penetrate the egg, but only one breaks through the egg's outer layer to fertilise it. If sperm doesn't fertilise an egg, the egg dissolves.
If a sperm is successful on its quest to fertilise an egg, the now fertilised egg (called a zygote) continues to move down your fallopian tube, dividing into two cells, then four cells, then more cells. About a week after the sperm has fertilised the egg, the zygote has traveled to your uterus. It's now a growing cluster of about 100 cells called a blastocyst.
The blastocyst then attaches itself to the lining of your uterus (the endometrium). This attachment process is called implantation.
However, just because conception occurs doesn't mean implantation will. Sometimes implantation doesn't happen, and you pass the fertilised egg in your next menstrual period.
If implantation happens, the cells continue to divide — some cells develop into your baby and others form the placenta. You begin to release hormones that tell your body a baby is growing inside your uterus. These hormones also signal the uterus to maintain its lining rather than shed it.
This means you won't get your menstrual period, which may be the first way you know you’re pregnant.