There are a lot misconceptions about conception; some have an element of truth in them, most don't. Even well educated people often misunderstand the issue of infertility. Until recently, infertility was hushed. Here are some myths that have stirred up panic and confusion for couples who are trying to conceive. .

It can be disappointing and confusing to stop using birth control and still find your periods coming month after month. For the majority of couples, conception does not take place in the first month of trying. In fact, healthy couples only have a one in four chance of conceiving in any given cycle.

This myth is the most prevalent; it's long-standing and at least thousands of years old. If a couple was unable to have a child, the woman was thought to be "barren." In truth, men and women are about equally responsible when it comes to infertility. As a case in point, in the United States, about 35 percent of infertility cases are solely due to female-related problems; 35% are solely male-related and 20% are due to a combination of male and female factors, and about 10 percent are unexplained.

Just because you didn't use any form of contraception doesn't necessarily put you at a vantage point. While your body is comparatively better able to regulate on its own, this doesn't mean you can get pregnant more easily. Your fertility can be influenced by factors other than contraceptives, and can also be problematic for no apparent reason at all.

Many men and women have severe fertility problems and show no outward signs. Being unhealthy increases chances for infertility, but it does not necessarily work the other way round.

Infertility is defined as an inability to conceive a child within one year of well-timed and unprotected intercourse (or six months if the woman is older than 35) or an inability to carry a child to term. It is much more prevalent than commonly thought; one in six couples have problems conceiving a child. But with proper medical treatment, 80 percent of these couples can overcome the problem and have a baby.

If sperm count is not an issue with your partner, have all the sex you want! But, having sex during the few crucial days of each month maximizes your chances. These are the days you ovulate, and unfortunately, you could have sex 29 days out for a 30-day cycle and still miss ovulation. Timing, not frequency, is important.

Most infertile couples have heard, at least once, "Relax and you'll conceive," "Don't try so hard" or "Maybe you should take a vacation." In reality, stress is not a cause of infertility, though it can frequently be a side effect of it. Infertility is a result of a problem or problems in the reproductive system. A vacation doesn't magically clear up blocked fallopian tubes or raise a low sperm count. If the couple in question is one of the (very rare) few for whom infertility is caused by infrequent intercourse, a vacation can be a boon.

Approximately one-third of couples in which the female partner is age 35 or older will have problems with fertility. A woman's fertility peaks at age 20 and declines thereafter, dropping most rapidly after age 38. A 25-year-old woman who is regularly having unprotected intercourse has an 86 percent chance of getting pregnant within a year. By the time she is 35, her chances narrow down to 52 percent.

Infertile couples with adopted children become pregnant at about the same rate as infertile couples who do not adopt; some of those pregnancies are a direct result of previous infertility treatment. Adoption is an important way of building a family for many infertile couples and some fertile couples too, but it's not a way to get pregnant.

There is no evidence suggesting that, nor are you likely to have a boy if you have sex standing up or when your partner enters from behind. Nor is there any evidence that lying on your back with your legs in the air after sex will improve your chance of conceiving.

The male sperm may swim towards the egg a bit faster, but it depends whether the egg has been released when it gets there.

Your partner's sperm does determine the sex of the baby, but whether you have a boy or girl is a random process. Your eggs contain just X chromosomes while sperms contain either a Y or an X chromosome. The sperm that gets to the egg first and fertilizes it will determine the sex of the child. Female sperms are larger and swim slower than the males. Sometimes when the male sperm arrives the egg may not have been released from the ovary and the sperm dies off. The female sperm arrives later by which time the egg has been released and fertilization takes place.