“Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.”

This famous, bittersweet lyric written by John Lennon almost fifty years ago is a timeless observation of the messy business that is existing, coexisting, and, if you’re reading this, procreating.

Maybe you wanted to focus on your career and you looked up one day, a successful and awesome business woman, and realized you were 35. Maybe you’re a lifelong smoker, or have been struggling with depression and poverty and other stressors that have been proven to decrease fertility. Whatever the reason, you want to have a baby, and it’s proving difficult. It’s easy to fall into despair when you start thinking about the oft mentioned “biological clock,” but all of us versed in women’s health urge you to take solace in this brave new world we live in.

Nowadays, there are a number of infertility solutions that could help you take charge of your body and make children part of your long-term plan once and for all. Assisted reproductive technology is making leaps and bounds every year, so it’s very possible that there are infertility solutions you haven’t even heard of yet.

Most people, for instance, have a vague idea about what in vitro fertilization is. This process, which was insensitively characterized at its beginning as making a “test tube baby,” involves manually combining a sperm and egg in a lab and then transferring the fertilized egg surgically into the uterus. While this method is perfectly legitimate and has resulted in a number of successful pregnancies, often such involved infertility solutions are not necessary anymore. Perhaps your infertility can be treated with only medicine or hormone replacement therapy (hrt).

Either way, you won’t know until you ask. If you want a baby but are having trouble conceiving the old fashioned way, please don’t panic, and please do pick up the phone and call your doctor. If you don’t have regular access to a physician, Google the nearest family planning center in your area, as they will often educate you for free on your reproductive health options and get you started on the right path to conception.