If you spend years actively avoiding pregnancy, it can be a surprise to get pregnant pretty quickly, much less the first time you try. That's exactly what happened to NCIS: New Orleans star Zoe McLellan. “For me, it was a bit too easy,” the 41-year-old actor said in an episode of People's video series "Mom Talk." McLellan said she told her then-boyfriend that she was looking to become a mom, and it happened right away. “We got pregnant the first time we had sex,” she says. “Pretty fast and furious.” We’ve all heard these stories of women who become pregnant as soon as they decide they want to be, but how common is that, really? Not very, but a fair amount of women get pregnant fairly quickly, Maureen Whelihan, M.D., an ob/gyn at the Center for Sexual Health & Education, tells SELF. This is what she tells her wannabe-pregnant patients (assuming they have unprotected sex twice a week): “50 percent will be pregnant within three months, 75 percent will be pregnant in six months, 90 percent will be pregnant in one year, and 95 percent will be pregnant in two years.” There are a few indicators that getting pregnant may be easier for you than for other women, Lauren Streicher, M.D., an associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells SELF. They include having regular periods (not just every month, but consistently the same number of days in each cycle), and having PMS symptoms like sore breasts and cramps before your period. These are all signs that your cycle is on track. Of course, it’s not always super-easy for many women to get pregnant, even if they time it correctly. “When you ovulate, the egg is only good for 24 hours each,” Whelihan says. “Even if you have [unprotected] sex on the right day of the month, there’s still only a 20 percent chance of conceiving [from that session].” Since sperm can live in your uterus for a few days, she recommends “getting some in there in advance” of ovulating. Ease of conceiving also depends on a woman’s age, says Streicher: “There’s a very big difference between what is expected for a 25-year-old and a 40-year-old." Streicher tells her older patients who say they want to start trying that they should begin tracking their ovulation. If they’re not ovulating regularly or haven’t gotten pregnant within four months, they should see their doctor. And in general, “If [a woman over 35] has been trying for four months, it’s an appropriate time to look at things,” she says. On the other hand, if you're under 35, doctors typically recommend that you wait until you’ve been trying for a year before seeing them to talk about possible next steps. It’s important to remember that it’s not necessarily about you. “When patients aren’t conceiving, 40 percent of the reasons are due to male factors, like low sperm count and bad swimmers,” Whelihan says. No matter what, if you don’t get pregnant right away, try to worry as little as possible—even though that can be incredibly tough—and manage your stress in a healthy way. "The time it takes a person to get pregnant varies significantly from woman to woman," women's health expert Jennifer Wider, M.D., tells SELF. "Unfortunately, it isn't something we can control, so stressing over it usually doesn't help." If you’re ready to get pregnant, like, yesterday, it’s natural that you wouldn’t want to wait a whole year to see what's going on, and experts get that. There's no rule that says you absolutely have to wait before calling up your doctor. “I tell women they have to be very proactive,” Streicher says. As soon as you talk your concerns over with a medical professional, you'll be one step closer to actually getting pregnant. Related:
Yes, although it's not very likely. If you have sex without using contraception, you can conceive (get pregnant) at any time during your menstrual cycle, even during or just after your period. You can also get pregnant if you have never had a period before, during your first period, or after the first time you have sex. There's no "safe" time of the
month when you can have sex without contraception and not risk becoming pregnant. But there are times in your menstrual cycle when you're at your most fertile, and this is when you're most likely to conceive. Your menstrual cycle begins on the first day of your period and continues up to the first day of your next period. You're
most fertile at the time of ovulation (when an egg is released from your ovaries), which usually occurs 12 to 14 days before your next period starts. This is the time of the month when you're most likely to get pregnant. It's unlikely that you'll get pregnant just after your period, although it can happen. It's important to remember that sperm can sometimes survive in the body for up to 7 days after you have sex. This means it may be possible to get pregnant soon after your period finishes if you ovulate early, especially if you have a naturally short menstrual cycle. You should always use contraception when you have sex if you don't want to become pregnant. Further information:
Page last reviewed: 8 July 2021 |
Chances of getting pregnant unprotected during ovulation
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