Videos

Your Fertility Matters

Did you know that it’s possible to get pregnant whilst you’re on your period?

Do you know when in your cycle you’re most likely to get pregnant?

You may have been told about how not to get pregnant but might not know about things that can affect your fertility.

The Fertility Education Animations were co-produced with Cardiff University.

Fertility Technologies Shaping Modern Families

If you’re figuring out your sexuality or gender identity, or think that there may be things that affect you having a family, this animation tells you all you need to know about fertility technologies that can help.

Male Testicular Health and Fertility

These co-produced, evidenced-based educational resources on male testicular health and fertility can be used to support public-facing work aimed at supporting young men 14-24 years to become aware of factors that affect testicular health and fertility.

Should you have any queries, please contact bfs@profileproductions.co.uk

Episode 1 – The 2 essential jobs your testicles do for you

Episode 2 – Healthy balls Healthy body

Episode 3 – How can you tell if your testicles are healthy

Episode 4 – The incredibly obvious thing you should do about painful testicles

Disclaimer: These animations must be shared in their entirety. No alterations of any kind are to made to the animations. They are not to be divided or edited in any way. The animations remain the property of the British Fertility Society.

Terminology

This guide gives you information about fertility and infertility. To help understand this information we’ve included an explanation of the main medical terms used.

eggs and sperm

Cells that are produced by the ovary (eggs, oocytes, ova) and testicles (sperm) and that combine after sex to produce a pregnancy. Women produce eggs and men produce sperm. A healthy sperm is motile, which means it has the ability to move. This movement is what makes it possible for sperm to reach the egg.

ejaculation

Semen is the fluid produced by the male sexual organs to protect and carry sperm. The process of discharging this fluid from the penis is called ejaculation.

insemination

Treatment that involves directly inserting sperm into a woman’s womb.

menopause

The menopause is the time when menstrual periods stop permanently, and women are no longer able to have children. For most women this happens at about 51 years. The age a woman will reach menopause generally be similar to the age at which her mother reached menopause.

menstrual cycle

The monthly changes that occur in the female reproductive system (specifically the uterus and ovaries) which make pregnancy possible. The length of the menstrual cycle is calculated as the time from the first day of a woman’s period (bleeding) to the day before her next period or bleeding. The average time between two periods for women is about 28 days but in teenagers it could be longer (up to 45 days) and sometimes 2 to 3 months, becoming shorter as the teenager gets older. There are events that occur during the menstrual cycle which are repeated each month. These are: development of the egg (phase 1), release of the egg from one of the ovaries (phase 2), preparation of the uterus for a pregnancy (phase 3), and menstruation or bleeding (phase 4). The next period then happens if there is no pregnancy. Young women should have regular periods within 3 years of the rst period occurring. Women could have some spotting in early pregnancy.

ovaries

The two oval-shaped organs located in the lower abdomen (right and left side) that produce the female eggs.

ovulation

Is the release of the oocyte (mature egg, sometimes called ovum) from the ovaries, ready for fertilization. Ovulation occurs about two weeks before the next period is due, for example around day 14 of a 28-day cycle or day 21 of a 35-day cycle. The actual day of release could differ between cycles and between women, and is a affected by many factors (e.g. lifestyle).

testicles also called testes or balls

Oval-shaped organs that sit in a sac that hangs behind the penis. A main job of the testicles is to make and store sperm.