I'm not producing much cervical fluid. Could this signal a fertility problem?

It might indicate a fertility problem but not necessarily a serious one.

First, you need to find out if you're ovulating. The easiest, most practical way to do that is to take your temperature with a digital thermometer every morning and look for the sustained rise that indicates ovulation. Your temperature should remain high for about 12 to 16 days, until your period.

If you find that you're not ovulating, you might want to consider making some lifestyle changes, as well as consulting a fertility specialist.

Achieving a healthy weight may be all you need to boost your chances of conception. If you're very thin, for example, you may not have enough estrogen to ovulate. (Ovulation requires a minimum of about 18 percent body fat.) Obesity can create too much estrogen, which can also prevent ovulation by disrupting the hormonal feedback system that tells the egg follicles to mature.

Having intercourse on demand when you're trying to get pregnant can be stressful, and that in itself can cause vaginal dryness. If your problem is lack of arousal fluid, rather than cervical fluid, you might want to try a product called Pre-Seed. This lubricant won't take the place of fertile-quality cervical fluid, but it can make sex more comfortable without killing sperm the way other lubricants can.

Women taking the fertility drug Clomid to stimulate ovulation may experience a paradoxical side effect. The drug encourages egg development in the ovaries but can dry up the cervical fluid needed to transport the sperm through the cervix.

Intrauterine insemination (IUI), also called artificial insemination, bypasses this roadblock by inserting the sperm through the cervix into the uterus. It's a simple, low-tech procedure that's done in a doctor's office. Don't try and do it with a turkey baster at home, though! The sperm needs to be delicately inserted beyond your cervix into your uterus, something you can't do yourself.

No matter what's causing your dryness, drink lots of water and avoid antihistamines and cough and cold medicines that dry up mucous membranes to increase your body's ability to produce wet cervical fluid.