Isn't it curious how the whole trying to conceive story seems to unearth superstitious stories and old wives' tales? Infertility myths are very common (and funnily enough, common sense isn't). The information you receive can range from innocuous to downright unkind, and is unfortunately frequently untrue.

• Well intentioned relatives may tell you that it's your imagination and you should just relax and you'll conceive. Are you positive that you don't yearn for a baby too much? On the other hand, what if, buried in the depths of your unconscious mind, you don't actually want to conceive? Could that be it? Surely there should be a smaller number of neglected babies if not wanting to conceive was enough to make you infertile?
  
• Other relations, perhaps the guy's relatives, could be tempted to blame it on you, because infertility is the woman's problem after all, and we don't like to think that possibly he inherited his infertility from us. The stats show that overall women and men are equally infertile. Approximately 1/3 of all cases of infertility are because of problems with the woman's reproductive ability, and the second third is due to difficulties on the man's part. Non-specific infertility and cases where both the man and the woman have issues make up the final third. No passing the responsibility on this one guys.
  
• Lots of people are quick to blame the contraceptive pill for infertility. Those nasty hormones can really mess up your fertility, from the devil they are! If you experienced a regular cycle before the pill, you'll experienced a predictable cycle after the pill, if you had fertility difficulties before taking the pill, you'll probably have fertility problems afterward too, but being on the pill would have concealed any problems. You're certain to hear the story of someone's uncle's sister who has a baby soon after adopting, even though I'm sure there are many many stories of couples who didn't get pregnant after adopting. Those stories aren't nearly as much fun to tell.
  
• The classic answer that really gets on my nerves is the one where someone, apparently trying to be helpful, proposes that maybe you weren't destined to have babies of your own, it just isn't your lot, and 'everything happens for a purpose' you know, just wait, it will all work out for the best. How do they know anyhow? When did the universe all of a sudden communicate with her? Knowing that you are doing your part to reduce overpopulation doesn't make it any easier either, regardless of what the greenies say.

That said, there is sometimes a minutely tiny morsel of truth in some of those infertility myths. So make sure you do your research so that you can divide the bones from the meat for yourself, and possibly help others with similar difficulties.