Better word anyone? -- preconception

[javasaurus]

Anybody got a better word for "preconception"?

The word needs to describe a state of being able to get pregnant. It should not imply the desire to get pregnant, just the ability to do so.

Comments

[rionnkelly.livejournal.com]

I think (been doing waaaaaaaay too much of that lately, it seems) the prefix "pre-" is being much too over used. I mean, we now Pre-board planes, Pre-order books and DVDs---I'm not even gonna wind up and get started on the reproductive connotations.... At first it seemed like just a verbal trick by some clever marketing wonk who wanted to boost sales by making people feel like they were first in line to do or get something. Doesn't anybody get the idea that when a word becomes overused, it loses it's meaning? Now that practically everybody is pre-boarding, pre-ordering and pre-conceving--nobody is getting there "first."