ask: MY LAST PERIOD WAS ON 4/22 - 4/25/09, I HAD INTERCOURSE ON 5/01/09. COULD I BE PREGNANT?

Hi Anon

Thanks for your question and welcome to EmpowHer!

We get a lot of these questions so you are in good company - a lot of women are concerned over their monthly cycle and how to get pregnant (or not, as the case may be!). I will give you the same reply I gave another reader early today, since your question is so similiar - I hope it helps - let us know!

"Most women ovulate around day 14 (average) of their cycle (your cycle begins on day 1 of your period) so your chance of getting pregnant if you have sex 4 days after your period depends on when you ovulated. Sperm can stay alive for 72 days so if you ovulated a little early, say on day 12 or 13, you could get pregnant. If you had sex 13 days after, you can get pregnant if you ovulated later than the average day 14 after the first day of your period.

Is your cycle very regular? Some women can ovulate at different times every month, making a planned pregnancy difficult and a unplanned pregnancy possible!

So the answer is yes, you could get pregnant at any time of your cycle, as long as you ovulate and do not have problems with infertility. Your odds increase in your 20s and begin to decrease after about age 35 - but in pregnancy, anything is possible! "