Can you get pregnant if you have sex during your period? JoCare

Yes — it’s possible to get pregnant if you have unprotected sex during your period. However, it’s less common for this to happen.

Here’s the deal: A woman is most likely to get pregnant from sex that happens just before and during ovulation (when an egg is released).

Ovulation happens in the middle of the time you get periods, usually about 14 days before your period starts. It’s more likely that you could become pregnant from sex during your period if you have a shorter menstrual cycle.

JoCare - Can you get pregnant if you have sex during your period

All of this might sound really complicated, especially if you aren’t sure how long your menstrual cycle is.

or when you’re ovulating.

During the first few years that you have a period, it’s pretty typical for your menstrual cycle to be irregular — which makes this stuff even harder to keep track of.

But if you use a birth control method like condoms or the pill (both are even better) every time you have sex, your chances of getting pregnant are really really low, whether you’re on your period or not.

Fertility windows

The most fertile time of your cycle, when you are most likely to get pregnant, is when you ovulate, or release an egg, Dr. Stephens explains. That typically happens midway between periods.

So if you have a regular 28-day cycle, Day 1 would be the first day of your period, and you would ovulate around Day 14. “You have the highest chance of getting pregnant during the few days before and after that day,” she says.

But that’s a general guideline and not a rule. “You can definitely get pregnant outside that window,” Dr. Stephens says.

Ovulation timing

If you have unprotected sex during or right after your period, there is a lower chance of getting pregnant. “But the chances are not zero,” Dr. Stephens stresses.

That’s especially true for women with irregular periods, whose ovulation date is harder to predict. Even women who normally have periods like clockwork can experience an unpredictable cycle as the result of things like stress, hormonal changes, and losing or gaining weight.

Having a shorter-than-average cycle also increases your risk of conceiving during period sex. That’s because sperm can live inside you for up to 5 days. They could still be hanging around, looking for love, if you release an egg 4 or 5 days after your period ends.

How not to get pregnant

If you want to get pregnant, plan to get frisky halfway between periods for the best chances. But if pregnancy is what you’re trying to avoid, there are much, much better methods than using your period as a guide.

“The best way to prevent pregnancy is to use a reliable form of birth control,” Dr. Stephens says.

Yeah, you probably already knew that. But now you know the whole story.