13 Truths About Pregnancy and Ovulation

When it comes to ovulation and pregnancy, there's a lot of myths and misconceptions out there. And, truthfully, a lot of the confusion is understandable—it is confusing! From how long your cycle is to when exactly ovulation (and your fertile window) occurs, it's normal if you have some question marks surrounding the whole process. If that's the case, we've got you covered. Read on for a roundup of important truths and facts about ovulation, from fertility age to period sex and beyond.

It Can Take Multiple Months to Get Pregnant

You may have gotten the impression in your high school sex education class that getting pregnant is almost too easy. One time in bed and that’s it—you’ll be expecting. 

But the truth is that few people get pregnant the first month they try. It’s completely normal to take up to six months to get pregnant. Some hopeful parents take up to a year to conceive, and that’s also within the realm of normal.

How quickly can you expect to get pregnant? One study found that after three months of trying, 68% of the couples were pregnant. After a year, 92% conceived. But it's important to note that these birthing people were using fertility tracking techniques. The bottom line is that it's different for everyone, and there is no magic number of how long it takes. That said, if you still haven't conceived after a year of trying (or after six months you're over 35), it's important to reach out to a health care provider.

Ovulation Doesn't Always Occur on Day 14 of Your Cycle

Ovulation might occur on day 14 of your cycle. But…it also might not. Ovulating as early as day 6 or 7 or as late as day 19 or 20 isn’t uncommon or abnormal.

When learning about female reproduction, most people are taught that the female cycle is 28 days on average and that ovulation occurs at the mid-point on day 14. The key phrase here is on average. A healthy person with good fertility can have a cycle as short as 21 days or as long as 35 days, and all be considered fine. The day of ovulation shifts earlier or later, depending on how long the overall cycle is.

Ovulation Can Happen From Either Ovary

Your body doesn't systematically "schedule" ovulation to alternate ovaries from month to month. Ovulation can switch from side to side, but it doesn't necessarily need to. It's also common for people with ovaries to ovulate more often on one side than the other. That could be your left ovary or your right ovary; it depends on a number of factors. This is also why you may notice you get ovulation pain on one side more frequently than the other.

Yes, You Can Get Pregnant During Your Period

Despite what you may think, you can get pregnant if you have sex during your period. Your ability to get pregnant is dependent on when you ovulate, and not directly associated with menstruation.

Some people mistakenly believe that if they are still on their period, they aren’t yet in the "fertile window." (That’s the time period of five to six days during your cycle when it’s possible to get pregnant.) But if your cycle is short, and you ovulate on day 7 or 8, you can conceive from sex during your period.

Another misconception people have is that menstruation will "wash out" any sperm along with period blood. But that’s not true. Your period won’t stop sperm from swimming up to your reproductive system.

If You're Trying to Conceive, Have Sex Before You Ovulate

If you want to get pregnant, you should have sex before you ovulate. Sex in the two days before ovulation is most likely to help you conceive.

While at first glance, it seems to make sense that the egg needs to be present before you send in the (sperm) swimmers. However, that’s not how it works.

First of all, sperm can survive in the female reproductive tract for up to six days. The sperm will die off as the days pass, so the closer to ovulation you have sex, the better. But they don’t need to get there "at the moment" of ovulation.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, the egg becomes nonviable very quickly. If a sperm cell doesn’t fertilize the egg within 12 to 24 hours of being released from the ovary, pregnancy can’t occur.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't have sex after ovulation too, just that pre-ovulation sex can increase your chances of conception.

Having Sex Every Day Won't Necessarily Make You Get Pregnant Quicker

You certainty could have sex every day if you wanted to. But there’s no evidence that it will help you get pregnant faster. It’s much more likely to lead to burnout and frustration, especially if you don’t get pregnant in the first month.

Sex every few days, or sex during your most fertile days, is all you need to conceive. In fact, if you had sex three times a week, you’d still be likely to hit your most fertile time.

The reason why more sex doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get pregnant faster is that conception is about much more than timing. There are a variety of physiological factors that impact whether you get pregnant in any given month. If timing were all it took, more people would conceive the first month they tried.

The Signs of Ovulation Aren't Always Obvious

There are many ways you can track or attempt to detect ovulation, from basal body temperature (BBT) charting to cervical mucus observations, to ovulation predictor tests, and more. For some people, one or a few of these methods are great, and they have no difficulty using them.

But for others, basal body temperature charting won’t always work, either because their sleep schedule is too complicated, or they can’t remember to take and record their temperature consistently every morning. Some people may have trouble noticing the differences between their cervical mucus from week to week. Even ovulation test kits, which you’d think should be fool-proof, can be complicated. Determining whether the test line is darker than the control line is not always simple.

With all that said, if you’re concerned about a lack of ovulation signs, it can be helpful to chat with a health care provider. It’s possible you’re having difficulty detecting ovulation because you’re not ovulating, or ovulating infrequently. Ovulation problems (anovulation) are a possible cause of female infertility.

Ovulation Is Only One Element of Getting Pregnant

Ovulation is essential to getting pregnant—but it takes more than just an egg to conceive. For example, the pathway to the egg must be clear. If the fallopian tubes are blocked, or there's issues with a partner's sperm, pregnancy may not be able to occur.

It’s also important to know that infertility doesn’t always have obvious symptoms, and sometimes no cause for infertility is identified. Some fertility problems (in all people) are not detectable without fertility testing. For example, it’s not possible to tell without lab testing if a partner's semen has enough sperm cells to be fertile. There may be no obvious signs if a birthing person's fallopian tubes are blocked. Ovulation is just one piece of the fertility puzzle.

Fertility Declines After Age 35

Unfortunately, no matter how healthy you are, your fertility declines with age. Your odds of getting pregnant at 40 are not as good as they are at 30. In fact, female fertility begins a steep downward path around age 35. This is why experts recommend that birthing people who are over age 35 and trying to conceive should seek help for getting pregnant sooner than those who are younger.

But You Can Get Pregnant After 40

All that said, getting pregnant after 40 is entirely possible. Plenty of birthing people have babies after 40 and even 41. Your risk of infertility increases at 40, along with your risks of miscarriage and pregnancy complications. It may also take a little longer for you to get pregnant. But you’re not incapable of having a healthy pregnancy just because you celebrated your 40th birthday.

The flipside to this: Even if you’ve started perimenopause, until you’ve actually completed menopause, you should use contraception if you want to avoid pregnancy.

Male Fertility Also Declines With Age

You’ve likely seen stories of male celebrities fathering children past age 60. This may have given you the impression that male fertility has no age limit, but that’s not entirely true. While men don’t go through a biological process like menopause, with a definite ending to their fertile years, male fertility does decline with age.

Besides an increased risk of infertility, pregnancies conceived with men over 40 are more likely to end in miscarriage or stillbirth. There is also an increased risk of certain diseases and conditions, including autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and childhood leukemia. If you have questions about a partner's fertility, be sure to discuss them with a health care provider.

Birth Control Does Not Cause Infertility

Hormonal birth control does prevent pregnancy when you’re using it properly, but once you stop taking it, your fertility returns. Research has found that birth control does not increase your risk of infertility.

Most hormonal birth control drugs produce a regular menstrual cycle. Once you stop taking it, the body takes over. It’s not that the birth control caused your cycles to become irregular, it’s that the birth control was guiding your cycle more regularly.

There is one form of birth control that may impact your fertility longer than a month or so after discontinuation: the birth control shot, or Depo-Provera. Depo-Provera doesn't cause infertility—your fertility will return. However, the effects of the medication can last much longer than a month or so after you stop using it. While most birthing people will be able to conceive within 10 months of stopping the injections, it can take others up to two years for their fertility to return.

If you have concerns about birth control and your fertility, you should speak with an OB-GYN or health care provider.

Any Sexual Position Can Result in Pregnancy

Despite any myths you may have heard about penis-in-vagina sex, any position that results in semen getting near the cervix can lead to pregnancy. For that matter, even if semen gets near the vaginal opening, or even if you stand and experience leakage of fluids, pregnancy can occur.

The Bottom Line

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about getting pregnant and ovulation. Not enough is taught in school about fertility, as the focus is usually on avoiding unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). How could you have known differently? Don’t feel bad if you believed some falsehoods about ovulation and getting pregnant, it's a complicated process.

If you ever have a question about your fertility, remember that an OB-GYN, primary care physician, or health care provider can be an excellent source of information. Don't be afraid to ask questions—they want to help you so that everything is less confusing, and easier to understand.