Hi,
Short answer:
Yes, anytime you have unprotected sex, you are at risk for pregnancy. The more often you have unprotected sex, the more your "odds" of a pregnancy increase.
Long answer:
Women can become pregnant around time they ovulate, but this is where it gets tricky. Women do not know when they ovulate exactly, so there is a range of possible "fertile times" before, during and slightly after ovulation. The other caveat: a woman can ovulate "early", "late" or in the middle of her cycle without any warning!
Lastly, a man's sperm can live inside a woman's body in "perfect conditions" (during fertile times" for up to 3-5 days), which further extends the possible fertile period (the sperm is waiting for the egg to be released during ovulation).
With all of this math...and knowing that women typically ovulate two weeks before their periods if they have a very regular cycle (for easy math, say a woman has a 28-day cycle, she would ovulate around day "Day 14"), then her fertile window can be anywhere from a week before ("Day 7") to a week after ("Day 21"), plus a few days on either side for being early or late, and a few extra days in case sperm is waiting before you ovulate.
Even though the amount of time a woman can actually conceive during one cycle is only about 24-hours (once egg is released, it only lives for a day or two), there is a large window of possible fertile times as explained above.
So, for your specific question:
If you count the first day of your period as "Day 1" on Feb. 8th, then had sex three days after your period ended...that would be on "Day 9" (Feb 16) of your cycle that you had unprotected sex. The sperm can live for 1-3 days (possibly even up to 5 days inside your body), and this does put you in the realm of possible fertile window.
Let us know if you'd like information on birth control options, as we'd be happy to help. Please also know that you can use Emergency Contraception which can lower your risks of pregnancy after unprotected sex (within 120 hours after unprotected sex).
Comment Reply
Hi,
Short answer:
Yes, anytime you have unprotected sex, you are at risk for pregnancy. The more often you have unprotected sex, the more your "odds" of a pregnancy increase.
Long answer:
Women can become pregnant around time they ovulate, but this is where it gets tricky. Women do not know when they ovulate exactly, so there is a range of possible "fertile times" before, during and slightly after ovulation. The other caveat: a woman can ovulate "early", "late" or in the middle of her cycle without any warning!
Lastly, a man's sperm can live inside a woman's body in "perfect conditions" (during fertile times" for up to 3-5 days), which further extends the possible fertile period (the sperm is waiting for the egg to be released during ovulation).
With all of this math...and knowing that women typically ovulate two weeks before their periods if they have a very regular cycle (for easy math, say a woman has a 28-day cycle, she would ovulate around day "Day 14"), then her fertile window can be anywhere from a week before ("Day 7") to a week after ("Day 21"), plus a few days on either side for being early or late, and a few extra days in case sperm is waiting before you ovulate.
Even though the amount of time a woman can actually conceive during one cycle is only about 24-hours (once egg is released, it only lives for a day or two), there is a large window of possible fertile times as explained above.
So, for your specific question:
If you count the first day of your period as "Day 1" on Feb. 8th, then had sex three days after your period ended...that would be on "Day 9" (Feb 16) of your cycle that you had unprotected sex. The sperm can live for 1-3 days (possibly even up to 5 days inside your body), and this does put you in the realm of possible fertile window.
Let us know if you'd like information on birth control options, as we'd be happy to help. Please also know that you can use Emergency Contraception which can lower your risks of pregnancy after unprotected sex (within 120 hours after unprotected sex).
February 28, 2010 - 7:51amThis Comment
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