It seems that the moment you let people know that you want to try for a baby, everyone becomes an expert and wants to share their own fertility stories. And it’ll only get worse when you have your baby! While it is usually very well-intended advice, it’s helpful to know what’s fact and what’s fiction when you want to try to get pregnant.

If You’re Older, You Won’t Get Pregnant Without Fertility Treatment

While it’s true that your fertility decreases with age, it’s just not that cut-and-dried. Many women who are over 35 (the age when your fertility first starts to drop) get pregnant naturally and carry healthy babies to term, just as many women in their 20s can encounter fertility problems that make it hard to get pregnant.

If you are 35 or older, keep in mind that you may need assistance down the road, but don’t give up hope, and give it a good six months of trying before you start to worry.

If You’ve Had One Baby, You Can Have Another

Incorrect. Secondary infertility is actually more common than you’d think, even if you had no trouble conceiving your first baby. So when trying to get pregnant with number two, bear this in mind. Most mothers of young children are much more tired and a lot more stressed out than they were before they had children, and this can make it more difficult to get pregnant again (if for no other reason than you are simply too tired to “do the deed”). If you’re significantly older than when you had your first baby, or you have not seen any results in the time you expected to, make an appointment to be checked out by your doctor.

You’ll Have Multiple Babies If You Undergo Fertility Treatment

This will always remain a possibility, but it is far from mandatory! This myth was born many years ago, when doctors would implant as many viable fertilized eggs as they could into the mother’s womb, to give her a better chance of a pregnancy. However, with the advances in reproductive technology that we have today as well as a change in guidelines from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), this is no longer such a worry. ASRM recommends that women 38 years old and younger should have no more than two embryos implanted, women between 38 and 40 have no more than four implanted, and women aged 41 and 42 have no more than five implanted.

Stress Can Make You Infertile

Many people will tell you that stress causes infertility. Stress isn’t going to help, and being stressed out and anxious will do nothing for your general well-being, but it certainly isn’t a cause of infertility. Treating the actual causes of your problems will help you gain more peace of mind.

Having More Sex Increases Your Chance Of Getting Pregnant

It won’t, actually, but that isn’t any reason to stop! You won’t get pregnant until you ovulate, and that ovulation (usually) occurs at a specific time every month. Within a few days of that, you’ve got a chance of getting pregnant, so just consider the rest of the month a good time to practice, and don’t get too wound up about it.