Rochelle Wants to know:
What are the odds of becoming prego if u have sex on all fertile days and ovulation day?
Dear Rochelle,
For most couples trying to conceive, the odds that a woman will become pregnant during any given month is between 15% and 25%. But there are some caveats, and different things can affect your chances of getting pregnant. They include: age, irregular menstrual cycles, frequency of intercourse, and illness or medical conditions that can affect pregnancy.
A lot of couples trying to conceive spend a lot of energy timing sex, with mathematical precision, to the woman’s ovulation. Theoretically, the approach makes sense. Recent studies have shown the window of opportunity for a sperm to fertilize an egg is pretty small: essentially, it’s only the four to five days leading up to ovulation and the day of ovulation itself. Your best chances are on the day before and the day of ovulation. So the key would seem to be to have sex frequently in that five- to six-day window.
But while timing your lovemaking makes logical sense, it has some drawbacks — primarily because your body doesn’t always behave with clockwork regularity. Even if your cycle is regular, ovulation can occur at any time during the cycle. If you’re having sex on the day you think you’re ovulating, and you’re off by a few days, you may be out of luck.
So the best advice if you want to conceive is to hedge your bets: have sex at least two to three times every week. And if you’ve got the stamina, why stop there? Studies have shown that as long as your partner has a normal sperm count, having sex every day of the month further increases your chances.
Wren
Thanks to WebMD for background information on pregnancy and conception.
Answer Wren 