Nishmat's Women’s Health and HalachaIn memory of Chaya Mirel bat R' Avraham

  • Hebrew
  • English
  • Espnaol
  • Francais
  • donate
Menu

When to evaluate fertility?

27 March, 2005
Question:

I have been trying to conceive since December, (about 4 months). I am worried something could be wrong. I took a pregnancy test too early in my cycle, and it said I was pregnant, within a week, I got my period.

A Rav advised me to take an ovulation test the day of Mikvah – to my surprise Mikvah night I was not ovulating, but the day after mikvah night, it said I would ovulate within 24-48 hours. My husband and I tried almost every day during our permitted days – and nothing happened. Is something wrong?


Answer:

It is still a bit early to conclude that something is wrong. If anything, your positive pregnancy test and ovulation test indicate that you are ovulating and able to conceive. Ovulation typically takes place 12-16 days prior to the onset of the next period, so ovulating in the window that you describe is perfectly normal.

For the purposes of conceiving, it is usually sufficient to have relations every other night during the fertile window. Try to make sure that the desire to conceive does not overshadow the other important elements of your physical relationship.

A physician will generally initiate a medical evaluation only if a couple has not conceived after one year of trying, or, if the woman is over 35, after six months.

For now, just keep trying, and use the times mentioned above to judge when you would see a doctor. Please feel free to write back with any further questions.

Updated August 2020

This internet service does not preclude, override or replace the psak of any rabbinical authority. It is the responsibility of the questioner to inform us of any previous consultation or ruling. As even slight variation in circumstances may have Halachic consequences, views expressed concerning one case may not be applied to other, seemingly similar cases. All health and health-related information contained within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for consulting with your health care professional. The advice is intended to offer a basis for individuals to discuss their medical condition with their health care provider but not individual advice. Although every effort is made to ensure that the material within Nishmat's Women's Health & Halacha Web site is accurate and timely, it is provided for the convenience of the Web site user but should not be considered official. Advice for actual medical practice should be obtained from a licensed health care professional. For further questions or comments:  The Nishmat Women's Health and Halacha Site is a public service of Nishmat, The Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women. This project and others like it are made possible by contributions from people like you. If you have benefited from the service, and wish to enable us to help others, click here to donate.
Users of Internet filtering services: This site discusses sensitive subjects that some services filter without visual indication. A page that appears 100% complete might actually be missing critical Jewish-law or medical information. To ensure that you view the pages accurately, ask the filtering service to whitelist all pages under yoatzot.org.

Accessibility Toolbar