reproduction refresher

Forget your basic biology? The biology behind reproduction is something we often don’t think about when we start trying to get pregnant. However, it can be helpful to understand both from the get-go as well as if you find yourself having trouble getting pregnant and seeking help from your healthcare provider.

Reproduction involves several processes that must occur at exactly the right time. Any interruption to the necessary steps can interfere with fertilization and/or implantation and result in infertility.

the woman’s role

Once a month women generally ovulate an egg from one of the two ovaries. This egg, or ovum, travels from the ovary and into the fallopian tube. In preparation for fertilization, the egg will be moved through the fallopian tube in order to meet the man’s sperm.

the man’s role

Sperm of course plays a vital role in the reproductive process. Following ejaculation, the man's sperm must swim through the woman's cervical mucus, and continue through the uterus and into the fallopian tube where it eventually meets the egg. Fertilization occurs when a sperm finds and penetrates an egg as it waits in the fallopian tube.

Once the egg is successfully fertilized, it continues to move through the fallopian tube and into the uterus where it will implant in the uterine wall.