Can I conceive with only one ovary?

Answer:

For women who have two ovaries, one ovary each month releases an egg to be fertilized. Usually, they take turns, one releasing an egg one month and the other releasing an egg the following month. When a woman has only one ovary, then that ovary tends to release an egg every month. So the odds of you getting pregnant is not all that much different than before you lost your ovary.

There are many factors which allow pregnancy to occur. Most of them cannot be determined without an examination by a doctor. For instance, some women end up with scarring in their fallopian tubes. The egg must travel down these tubes to reach the uterus, but scar tissue can block the way for the egg. If the tube on the side with the remaining ovary is scarred, then you will have normal cycles, but you won't be able to get pregnant.

The fact that you have regular cycles indicates that you are eating well and that your hormone levels are probably normal. However, once again, nothing can be certain without a check-up.

As you get older, the possibility of having a defect that interferes with conceiving increases. Generally, women over 40 have a harder time conceiving a child than younger women.

The best time to conceive a child is two weeks before the start of your next period. Since you know fairly well when that time is, you and your husband can take advantage of that. A husband's sperm lives about six days after ejaculation, but the number of surviving sperm and their activity drops off each day. Some people think that holding off sex until the "perfect" day will increase the odds, but it actually decreases them.

First, a man releases about the same amount of sperm each time he ejaculates. The amount of fluid the sperm is in (the semen) might increase a bit, but the number of sperm cells remain about the same.

Second, sperm is used in the order it is produced. So by holding off you are using older sperm cells.

Third, if your husband works in a hot job, the heat can kill his sperm. Holding on the sperm just gives them more exposure to heat.

Fourth, it is very easy to miss the perfect time. The sperm cells must be in place before ovulation. There is only a 24-hour window from the time an egg is released to the time it can be fertilized.

Thus the best way to become pregnant is to start having sex about three weeks before you expect your next period to begin as often as you can for about ten to twelve days. This will ensure that the freshest sperm is available for your egg. Your husband can also improve the quality of his sperm by wearing loose, light clothing and making sure he has breaks from the heat (if this happens to be the problem).