Trying to conceive?

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Anyone else autistic and trying to conceive? How do you think being autistic affects trying to conceive?

I am hard pressed to think of any reason being autistic would affect your ability to conceive, unless it is affecting your ability to have sex, in which case your problem is related to sex not conception.

There's a lot more to trying to conceive than just having sex.

Yes but I don't see how autism could be a factor.

I don't think autism affects your ability to conceive. A lot of autistic people have kids.

Have you ever tried to conceive? Your bio says you're 19.

There's a reason I posted this in the parents forum - I was hoping for people with actual experience, not just people's random suppositions.

I haven't tried to conceive, but I have an autistic parent, and there are people here who have autistic parents and who also have kids.

Why do you assume autism makes it harder to conceive? I have never heard of autism making it harder to physically have kids.

I think it may be a factor, though not a huge one.
When I was a child a friend brought some lead plates to school and I said "I hear lead is poison, lets eat it".
Things like that may affect the ability in the long run.
Also, sensetivity issues may affect how the sex works out.

/Mats

I’m sorry you’re having difficulty conceiving. And I understand that you desire concrete advice from people who have had similar experiences.

Please don’t be upset with folks who say autism might not affect the ability to conceive. They are seeking to reassure you, based on what’s true in general.

Many non-autistic folks have difficulty conceiving.

I hope you find a solution to this.

Hi Ettina . This is an exciting part of your life and hopefully, a happy one, no matter the bumps that may occur along the road. I am an autistic woman, who when trying to conceive had no difficulties at all in conceiving, but did have major difficulties with pregnancy itself. I had 24 hr morning sickness in the extreme throughout all three pregnancies. The labours were either spontaneous(no warning whatsoever) and spontaneous labour is worse than a very long labour as far as I’m concerned, or complex.

Conception-wise, the aim is to be relaxed, in a loving, good headspace and hopefully more than ready for what lay ahead. I found it beyond exciting! I read lots ... there’s a great book entitled “Every Woman” that takes you on the journey, from young to old. It includes pregnancy and covers it very well. I attended birth classes and ensured I was as ready as possible with the often untalked about necessities for after having given birth and bringing baby home. I had no mother or other female guidance, so it was important to me, to get this right. I read alot and prepared the things I’d need for both the baby and myself in order to cope well .

Don't think autism had any effect on me trying to conceive. I'm diagnosed and I'm fairly sure my husband is autistic too. Hope it happens soon for you Ettina!

I didn't know I had ASD at the time I was trying to conceive. In retrospect I can see my challenges: sensory as mentioned above and socially (when I had difficulties, I needed to self-advocate and didn't). I looked to see if ASD was associated with increased infertility or pregnancy loss but didn't find any research. I have no idea if it's coincidence or correlation that I suffered both of those. The happy ending is that I have two wonderful children (one is ASD-like and one is ADHD-like, undiagnosed for now).