As we women know, tuning into our menstrual cycle is the key to understanding and managing our fertility. And what controls and regulates our menstrual cycle? The Moon. Understanding our fundamental lunar fertility is all about getting in touch with the cycles of the Moon.

Many women in their 30’s wait for years to get pregnant, not because they’re infertile but because they have less viable eggs than when they were younger. A woman is born with over a million eggs in her ovaries but only releases about 400 of these during her life. As she ages, many eggs die off and the number of fertile eggs available in her ovaries decreases. She may have plenty of fertile eggs left but the chances of releasing one during ovulation becomes less the older she gets. Thus, for many older women it may simply be a matter of waiting a little longer to get pregnant, rather than giving up all hope of conceiving. Getting in touch with your lunar fertility cycles can help pinpoint times you are most likely to conceive.

One of the most well-known aspects of lunar fertility is the lunar phases method developed by Dr Eugene Jonas and used with success by natural fertility expert Francesca Naish at the Jocelyn Centre for Natural Fertility Management in Sydney. According to this method a woman has two fertile periods during her cycle, when she ovulates and when the Moon is in the same phase as it was at her birth. This is a simple method to follow and you can download an individualised lunar phase chart from Astrodienst which can help you get started. You will need to go to Extended Chart Selection and then Special Charts to access this feature.

Basic info about a woman’s lunar fertility can be seen in her natal chart. Along with the Moon, the key elements to consider are the 5th House (which rules children) and the ruler of the sign on the 5th House cusp. It is helpful if these are placed in fertile signs, especially Water signs, but aspects to other planets are more important to consider. For example, a woman has a Pisces Moon in the 5th House, where 5th House ruler Neptune forms a trine to benefic Jupiter and a sextile to the Moon. All things being equal she is likely to be more fertile than a woman whose 5th House is ruled by the Sun and whose Gemini Moon is in square aspect to Saturn. Thus our natal chart gives us some basic clues about our lunar fertility.

But the natal chart is just the beginning. The Moon also has a longer cycle which plays out in the secondary progressed chart over a 30 year period. Understanding this cycle is crucial to gaining real insight into our lunar fertility. Thus the woman with Moon square Saturn may find herself falling pregnant when her progressed Moon is in Cancer, perhaps during a transit of Jupiter. Looking at the progressed chart and the transits of the outer planets to the natal Moon can give insight into the constantly shifting nature of our lunar fertility cycles.

Good signs to look out for when assessing your lunar fertility

The progressed Moon tenanting the 5th house

Outer planet transits to natal or progressed Moon, especially Jupiter or Uranus

Flowing aspects from progressed Jupiter or Venus to natal or progressed Moon

The progressed Moon in a fertile sign such as Cancer, Pisces, Taurus, Libra, or Scorpio

Flowing aspects from progressed Moon to the 5th House ruler (the planet ruling the sign on the 5th House cusp)

Flowing aspects from progressed Moon to the 5th house cusp or a planet in the 5th

Flowing aspects from progressed Moon to the angles of the natal or progressed chart

The asteroids Juno or Ceres aspecting natal or progressed Moon, but only with other fertility indicators

Apart from your lunar fertility cycle, other transits and placings can also play a role in fertility:

Progressed Jupiter, Venus or North Node tenanting the 5th house

Flowing aspects from transiting or progressed Jupiter or Venus to the 5th House ruler

Transiting or progressed planets moving through your 5th House

Progressed Venus in a fertile sign such as Cancer, Pisces, Taurus, Libra, or Scorpio

Easy aspects from transiting or progressed Jupiter or Venus to a planet in the 5th House

Transits from Uranus or Pluto to the 5th house cusp, a planet in the 5th House or the 5th house ruler

Conversely, hard aspects from transiting or progressed Saturn and Mars to the Moon, 5th House cusp, 5th House ruler or the Sun can sometimes indicate infertile periods.

Astrologer Peg O’Donnell suggests that the midpoints of Jupiter/Uranus, Mars/Jupiter, Venus/Uranus and the Moon/Venus being activated by the Sun is also often an indicator of conception. You can read her entire article here at Mosaic Astrology.

What you are looking for is not one but a number of elements aligning simultaneously. These alignments, as with all key transiting aspect patterns, are focal points which show potential for manifestation. What manifests depends on the planets and aspects involved. In this case we are talking about the emergence of a new being into the world; something so powerful will only occur when the time is right for both mother and child. This may seem a strange thing to say when you consider the thousands of unwanted pregnancies and children neglected or abused by their parents. However I believe even these children arrived at the right time to learn the lessons they set out to learn in this lifetime, difficult though they may be.

This article has been written mainly with women in mind but many elements will also apply in the chart of the potential father. However although looking at the chart of the father is useful, it’s unlikely that influences in his chart will be the deciding factor in the matter if the mother’s chart indicates otherwise.

Always bear in mind that fertility is extremely complex with so many factors playing a role. The astrological influences and their affect on lunar fertility are just one small part of a very big picture. They certainly cannot overcome physical malfunctions and any such fertility issues are best addressed earlier rather than later. If you are concerned about your ability to conceive please talk to a doctor.

If you don’t have one yet, you can get a free birth chart at astro.com. To understand how to read your birth chart, and follow the transits in your own life, download my free ebook The Language of Astrology.