In many cases, having a normal menstrual cycle is the most important clue you're fertile, regardless of what you weigh. But losing or gaining weight to reach a healthy body mass index (ideally 20-24) before you start trying to get pregnant is a smart move when done in a healthy way and will help you have a healthier pregnancy, labor and postpartum recovery too.

You don't have fibroids or endometriosis.
Symptoms like pelvic pain or extremely painful, heavy, or long periods are often the main signs of fibroids or endometriosis, although many women don't discover these conditions until they run into difficulty getting pregnant. While having fibroids or endometriosis may increase your risk of fertility problems, having them is no guarantee you won't be able to conceive eventually.

Fibroids are benign tumors in the uterus that affect 20 to 40 percent of women, but their size and location are what have the biggest impact on fertility problems. Fibroids that jut out into the uterus may disrupt the embryo from implanting and developing properly; other growths may not have any impact at all. If fibroids are uncomfortable or affecting your fertility, they can be removed with outpatient surgery.

About five million women in the U.S. have endometriosis, in which the uterine lining grows on organs outside of the uterus, such as the fallopian tubes or ovaries. This can lead to scar tissue that prevents your egg from being released or getting fertilized normally. Taking birth control pills or having outpatient surgery may reduce endometriosis.

You've never had an unchecked STD.
Certain bacterial infections, like chlamydia and gonorrhea, can spread to organs throughout the reproductive tract, causing pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This infection can cause serious damage to your ovaries, fallopian tubes, and other organs, significantly increasing your risk of infertility. While PID may have symptoms like fever, vaginal discharge, pain during sex and urination, and irregular menstrual bleeding, the infection goes unnoticed by women and their doctors about two-thirds of the time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you've never been tested for these STDs, ask your ob-gyn to screen you now. Antibiotics can treat the infection and prevent further damage.

You don't smoke cigarettes.
We don't need to tell you that a cigarette habit is bad for your health, but you should know that smoking can damage your eggs and derail ovulation, increasing the time it takes you to get pregnant and the risk of miscarriage if you do. Those odds go up even more if your partner smokes too.

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