One of the hallmarks of the current generation is that women are choosing to have children later in life - and it is likely that this trend will continue. On average, women today are having two children with approximately four years time between the first and second births. Between 1985 and 1994 the proportion of births to women in their 20s decreased from 62 percent to 53 percent, while the proportion of births to women 30 - 44 years of age increased from 25 percent to 34 percent. Since the mid 1970s there has been a four-fold increase in the percent of first births to women 30 years and older.

Because fertility declines with age, having children later in life means that many couples will experience infertility in their quest to build a family. Advances in the treatment of infertility have improved a woman's chances of conception as she ages, and more couples than ever before are taking advantage of these new treatments. However, many couples still don't know all they need to know about the first and most important step in the pregnancy process: ovulation.

Ovulation is the term used to define the release of an egg (usually one, though sometimes more) from a woman's ovary. Conception occurs when a sperm fertilizes the egg. While sperm can survive for several days inside a woman's reproductive tract, an egg can only survive for up to 24 hours after ovulation. This puts a limitation on the time when conception is most likely to occur. According to a recent survey conducted at the World Congress on Fertility and Sterility, 20 percent of the problems in conceiving are due to a couple's failure to time intercourse correctly during the woman's fertile time period.

The Opinion Research Corporation International (ORC) found that most women don't know when they can become pregnant. Nearly all women (98 percent) of reproductive age are unclear about how many days each month it is possible to get pregnant, and more than half (52 percent) of women aren't sure when those fertile days occur during their cycle. Most parents do not know the day(s) on which their children were conceived.