Fast-swimming sperm can reach the egg in a half an hour, while others may take days. The sperm can live up to 48-72 hours. Only a few hundred will even come close to the egg because of the many natural barriers that exist in a woman's body.
Usually, the sperm reaches the egg within 15 to 45 minutes of ejaculation. However, the process could be much longer than that if you haven't ovulated yet by the time you have sex, because sperm can live inside a reproductive tract and wait for an egg for up to five days.
Post ejaculation, the time it takes the sperm to reach the egg can take 45 minutes to 12 hours, but sperm are capable of surviving more than six days in a woman's body. Research has shown that visible zinc sparks are released along with calcium levels at the time of fertilization.
Fertilization and Embryo Development
Following ovulation, the egg is capable of fertilization for only 12 to 24 hours. Contact between the egg and sperm is random. Once the egg arrives at a specific portion of the tube, called the ampullar-isthmic junction, it rests for another 30 hours.
Pregnancy doesn't start the day you have sex — It actually takes up to 2-3 weeks after sex to become officially pregnant. It can take up to 6 days after sex for the sperm and egg to join — if a sperm cell joins with an egg, it's called fertilization.
Within 24 hours of ovulation: Sperm fertilizes an egg (conception occurs). About six days after fertilization: The fertilized egg implants into your uterine lining. Around day 21: If conception and implantation occurred during this menstrual cycle, you're pregnant.
For fertilization to occur, sperm must reach the egg within a specific timeframe. Sperm can survive for up to 72 hours after ejaculation, but the egg can survive for no more than 24 hours after ovulation.
Fertilization doesn't happen right away. Since sperm can hang out in your uterus and fallopian tube for up to 6 days after sex, there's up to 6 days between sex and fertilization. If a sperm cell does join up with your egg, the fertilized egg moves down the fallopian tube toward the uterus.
Ovulation usually occurs about two weeks after your menstrual period and lasts for two or three days. This means you can sometimes determine when you conceived based on your ovulation cycles — simply determine when your last menstrual period was and add approximately two weeks.
After ejaculation, a single sperm cell measuring only 0.5 mm needs to swim over 152 mm from the base of the cervix to the egg for fertilization. Not every sperm is up to the task. Even though only one sperm is needed for fertilization, most sperm cells will not survive the journey from the testicle to the uterus.
A released egg lives for less than 24 hours. The highest pregnancy rates have been reported when the egg and sperm join together within 4 to 6 hours of ovulation.
Pregnancy begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg. This usually occurs in the 2 weeks following the first day of the most recent menstrual period. In the first few weeks of pregnancy, a woman may have no symptoms. Some can sense that they are pregnant, but most do not suspect it until they miss the next period.
your cervical mucus – you may notice wetter, clearer and more slippery mucus around the time of ovulation. your body temperature – there's a small rise in body temperature after ovulation takes place, which you may be able to detect with a thermometer.
It can take anything from 45 minutes to 12 hours for a sperm to reach your fallopian tubes, which is where conception usually happens. However, sperm can survive inside your body for up to seven days, so conception can happen at any point in the week after unprotected sex, if you're ovulating.
Sperm can live up to 5 days inside your body, so if you have sex up to 5 days before your egg is released, you can get pregnant. After ovulation, though, your egg can only live for 12 to 24 hours.
The sperm must be able to invade the cervix via the cervical mucus by virtue of their own swimming ability. Nothing about the sexual act will help those sperm get into the cervix. They simply have to swim into the mucus on their own, and this requires a great deal of coordinated, cooperative activity on their part.
An egg can only be fertilized between 12 and 24 hours from when it is released. After that, it starts to break down, hormones shift, and eventually, a period starts the next cycle.
Implantation can be completed as early as eight days or as late as 18 days after fertilization, but usually takes about 14 days. Between one-third and one-half of all fertilized eggs never fully implant. A pregnancy is considered to be established only after implantation is complete.
Fertilization happens when a sperm cell successfully meets an egg cell in the fallopian tube. Once fertilization takes place, this newly fertilized cell is called a zygote. From here, the zygote will move down the fallopian tube and into the uterus. The zygote then burrows into the uterus lining.
The sperm rapidly swim up and into the cervix, where they can survive in the mucus for up to five days before an egg is released.
Ideally, you want to have sperm ready and waiting for the egg. This is why most ovulation signs appear in the days before the egg is released. The two to four days before you ovulate are your most fertile time.
It takes just one sperm to fertilize a woman's egg. Keep in mind, though, for each sperm that reaches the egg, there are millions that don't. On average, each time men ejaculate they release nearly 100 million sperm.
"The first fraction of ejaculate is the most effective for conception." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 May 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150526085347.htm>.
Super fertility has been classified as a monthly fecundity (the ability to get pregnant) rate of 60% or greater. A regular menstrual cycle and high antral follicle count are signs of high fertility. Perimenopause, fibroids, and endometriosis can make conceiving and sustaining pregnancy more difficult.