Have More Sex: It May Aid Fertility By Boosting The Female Immune System

If you're trying to have a baby, predicting the days that you're ovulating may not be the only way to go about things.

New findings published in the journals Fertility and Sterility and Physiology and Behavior found that couples should just get busy even on "off" days in the hopes that they might get lucky with a new baby.

"It's a common recommendation that partners trying to have a baby should engage in regular intercourse to increase the woman's changes of getting pregnant - even during so-called ‘nonfertile' periods - although it's unclear how this works," said lead investigator Tierney Lorenz, from the university's Kinsey Institute, via Health Day. 

"This research is the first to show that the sexual activity may cause the body to promote types of immunity that support conception," she added. "It's a new answer to an old riddle: How does sex that doesn't happen during the fertile window still improve fertility?"

In this recent study, researchers examined 30 women who participated in the Kinsey Institute's Women, Immunity and Sexual Health Study. Half of the participants were sexually active while the other half were abstinent.

Researchers took saliva and blood samples from the women during the study and found that helper T cells and the proteins that T cells use to communicate fluctuated during the participants' menstrual cycle. Furthermore, they noted higher levels of type 2 helper T cells in sexually active women than in those who had abstained from sex.

"We're actually seeing the immune system responding to a social behavior: sexual activity," Lorenz added. "The sexually active women's immune systems were preparing in advance to the mere possibility of pregnancy."

The study authors noted that with future research, the information may have an impact on treatments for autoimmune disorders.

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