Just over a third of healthy couples will conceive in the first month of trying1. If you're under 35 and in good health, it's perfectly natural for it to take up to a year.
Of all couples trying to conceive: 30 percent get pregnant within the first cycle (about one month). 60 percent get pregnant within three cycles (about three months). 80 percent get pregnant within six cycles (about six months).
What are the chances of getting pregnant the first time trying? Some people get pregnant within the first month, but this is not always the case. Getting pregnant can take up to a year or longer. Conception in the first month occurs for about 30% of people attempting pregnancy.
The bottom line is that a single act of intercourse between a young couple has on average a one in 20 chance of pregnancy – this assumes the opportunity presented itself on a random day, as these things tend do when you are young.
From 12% to 15% of couples have trouble getting pregnant. “The majority of people will become pregnant within the first 12 months of trying to conceive with regular unprotected intercourse,” says Cross.
42% conceived in their first month of trying. 75% conceived by their third month. 88% conceived by six months. 98% conceived by 12 months.
Have sex regularly. The highest pregnancy rates occur in couples who have sex every day or every other day. Have sex near the time of ovulation. If having sex every day isn't possible — or enjoyable — have sex every 2 to 3 days a week starting soon after the end of your period.
At least 85% of women, who continue to have sex without birth control, even just once in a while, will be pregnant within one year. A woman will only get pregnant if she has sex without birth control on the day she ovulates (releases an egg).
If you're having vaginal intercourse and you're not using birth control or condoms, you chance of getting pregnant is very high. Over the course of one year, 85 out of 100 women who do not use any kind of birth control, including condoms, will become pregnant.
How many sperm do you need to get pregnant? 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.
Anyone who is worried about accidental exposure to sperm should take emergency contraception as soon as possible. It is safer and more effective than an unintended pregnancy.
The pull-out method is about 80% effective. About one in five people who rely on the pull-out method for birth control become pregnant.
Pre-cum (also known as pre-ejaculate) is a small amount of fluid that comes out of your penis when you're turned on, but before you ejaculate (cum). Oozing pre-cum is involuntary — you can't control when it comes out, and you might not be able to feel it happening. Pre-cum doesn't usually have any sperm in it.
The sperm enters the egg in the fallopian tube. It can happen even 3-5 days after ejaculation. There is no way for either of the partners to know if the sperm entered the egg. The only way to know for sure if the sperm did enter the egg is after a positive pregnancy test.
Having regular, unprotected sex (every 2 to 3 days without contraception) will give you the best chance of success. 8 out of 10 couples where the woman is under 40 years old will get pregnant within one year if they have regular, unprotected sex. More than 9 out of 10 couples will get pregnant within two years.
Loss of seminal fluid after intercourse is perfectly normal, and most women notice some discharge immediately after sex. Many infertile couples imagine that this is the cause of their problem.
If your menstrual cycle lasts 28 days and your period arrives like clockwork, it's likely that you'll ovulate on day 14. That's halfway through your cycle. Your fertile window begins on day 10. You're more likely to get pregnant if you have sex at least every other day between days 10 and 14 of a 28-day cycle.
Share This
You can't always tell when pre-ejaculate (AKA pre-cum) comes out of your penis. You may be able to feel a little wetness on the tip of your penis when it comes out, but you may not notice if you're having sex and other things around your penis are wet, too.
The days before and during menstruation are the least fertile days of the menstrual cycle. People with a menstrual cycle that is shorter than 28 days could ovulate within days of their period ending. Menstrual cycles may shorten with age, particularly after the age of 35 years .
What we do know is that withdrawal works about 78% of the time overall. But the odds of pregnancy are always higher during the 5 days leading up to, and during, ovulation — these are called fertile days. If no semen gets on your vulva or in your vagina, pregnancy can't happen — whether or not you're ovulating.
The most straightforward way is to wash the vaginal area gently with warm water. The American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) recommend using mild, unscented soap around the vaginal area. It is best to avoid perfumed soaps as these can cause irritation by disturbing the pH level of the vagina.
You can definitely get pregnant even if the guy pulls out before he comes. Guys can leak a bit of sperm out of the penis before ejaculation. This is called pre-ejaculate ("pre-cum"). So even if a guy pulls out before he ejaculates, a girl can still become pregnant.
Is it possible? Pregnancy is very unlikely if a person wipes semen on the outside of the vagina — the vulva. For pregnancy to happen, semen has to get inside the vagina.
Pregnancy can happen if any semen gets in your vagina or on your vulva. So the best way to make the pull out method effective is to use it with another type of birth control (like the ring, pill, or condoms). This way, if there's a slip up, you're still protected. Accidents happen.
Summary: Sperm in the first fraction of ejaculate are more numerous, move more and present better quality DNA than those lagging behind.