Trying to Conceive: When to Seek Help

Taking a few months to get pregnant is common. There is, however, a point where it’s worth seeking evaluation. Enter when you started trying and your age to find out if it’s time to investigate.

The timing rule

Both the Office on Women’s Health and the joint ACOG–ASRM committee opinion set the same two thresholds, and they turn on the woman’s age:

Woman’s age	Seek evaluation after
Under 35	12 months of attempts
35 or older	6 months of attempts

The reason for the shorter clock isn’t that 35 is a cliff — the committee opinion puts the gradual decline at about 32 and the faster one after 37. It’s that time itself becomes the scarce resource, so the guideline recommends an “expedited evaluation” rather than another year of waiting. For anyone 40 or older, StatPearls recommends going straight to a reproductive endocrinologist. Evaluation can also be brought forward for very irregular cycles, prior pelvic surgery, or known endometriosis.

How long it usually takes

Before the clock runs out, most couples are already pregnant. ASRM estimates about 80% conceive in the first 6 months. In PRESTO, a cohort of 2,962 U.S. and Canadian couples with no history of infertility, 58.1% conceived within 6 cycles and 74.9% within 12 — and that includes every age band from 21 to 45.

What “trying” means

Trying to conceive means having regular intercourse, without contraception, concentrated in the fertile window. If intercourse isn’t lining up with the fertile window, the “time trying” count can be misleading — see the fertile window calculator to get pregnant.

What the evaluation investigates

An infertility workup evaluates the couple, and the split is roughly even. The Office on Women’s Health puts it in thirds: about one-third of cases are a female problem, one-third a male problem, and one-third both partners or no cause found — StatPearls estimates male factor contributes to about 50% of cases overall. So the workup looks at the woman’s ovulation and ovarian reserve, her tubes and uterus, and the man’s semen quality, which needs at least two samples a week or more apart.

Many causes are treatable: the Office on Women’s Health says about 9 in 10 cases of infertility are treated with drugs or surgery. Age is a central factor — learn more in fertility by age. Aspects like the luteal phase may also be assessed, though ASRM considers luteal phase deficiency unproven as an independent cause of infertility.

This calculator is informational and does not replace medical evaluation. If you fall within these timeframes, see a gynecologist or reproductive specialist.