If you were paying attention during those sexual education classes that your teachers forced you to sit through during high school, then you probably remember hearing a warning along the lines of “you can get pregnant at any time, even during your period.” As alarming as this particular notion be might, it doesn’t quite seem to align with what biology taught us about the reproduction process.
During the menstrual cycle, a woman will release an egg during ovulation. Following ovulation, the egg will move towards the uterus via the fallopian tubes. If sperm is then introduced into the picture, then fertilization of the egg might take place. But if the egg does not get fertilized, then it will be shed during the woman’s next period. In other words, if having your period means that there’s no egg to fertilize, then getting pregnant during your period is impossible, right? Wrong.
Dr. John Payne is an infertility specialist at South Carolina’s Piedmont Reproductive Endocrinology Group, P.A. (PREG), a facility that caters to couples facing infertility and reproductive issues, and according to him, it is possible, though highly unlikely, for a woman to get pregnant while on her period. For a woman to get pregnant during her period, she’d need to have an incredibly short menstrual cycle. However, if this happens to be the case, then sexual intercourse during her period could result in pregnancy thanks to the ability of sperm to survive inside a woman’s body.
Sperm, on average, can survive inside a woman’s body for two to three days. However, under certain circumstances, they can survive for as many as five days. Therefore, if two people have sex while a woman is on her period, and she begins ovulating again only a few days after her period has ended, then those scrappy sperm just might end up sticking around to make a baby. Now since most women don’t tend to ovulate so shortly after having their periods, the likelihood of such a thing happening is relatively slim; however, this doesn’t mean that it can’t ever happen. In other words, your sexual education instructors weren’t just feeding you a line – it is actually possible, though not very likely, to get pregnant during your period.
Another thing to realize about the notion of getting pregnant on your period is that not every instance of bleeding is actually a true period. In fact, many women have a tendency to mistake heavy spotting during ovulation for an actual period. Therefore, what sometimes ends up happening is that a woman, convinced that she’s in the clear on the pregnancy front, will engage in unprotected intercourse during what she thinks is her period; however, in doing so, she will actually increase her chances of getting pregnant by having sex during her most fertile days of the month.
If getting pregnant is something that you truly want to avoid for the time being, then your best bet is to have one or more methods of birth control in place every single time you choose to have sex. Remember, as inconvenient as the notion of birth control might be, it’s far easier to unwrap that condom or pop that pill than it is to spend the next several decades of your life caring for an unwanted child.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
