A healthy 30-year-old has about a 20% chance of becoming pregnant during each menstrual cycle that they have sex without using birth control. The odds of pregnancy resulting from brief contact with semen are even lower. This is especially true if the semen has been outside of the body for more than a few seconds.
Pregnancy can happen if any semen gets in your vagina or on your vulva.
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.
With frequent unprotected sex, most healthy couples conceive within one 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).
Although over a third of healthy couples will get pregnant in the first month of trying1, it's also perfectly natural for it to take up to a year for a couple under 35 and in good health to conceive.
On days 1-7, you're not considered to be fertile and can have unprotected sex, though you may have menstrual bleeding on those days.
Taking emergency contraception
Emergency contraception (EC) is the only effective method you can use to prevent pregnancy after sperm has entered the vagina during unprotected sex.
It's perfectly normal if some amount of semen or sperm leaks from the vagina after sex, and you should not worry about trying to "keep" it inside. No rule says you must lie in bed with your legs up after intercourse to get pregnant. It's entirely up to you!
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.
You ovulate about 12 to 14 days before the start of a new menstrual cycle. Your fertile window is the five days leading up to ovulation, plus the day of ovulation and the day after ovulation — so about seven days in total.
You can use a special thermometer to check your temperature every morning before you get out of bed. You're most fertile 2 or 3 days before your temperature rises. Your cervical mucus becomes clearer and thinner with a slippery consistency, like egg whites.
As we outlined above, sperm counts are typically highest after waiting for two days, but sperm quality is negatively affected after seven days.
The next time you have sex, the number of sperms is not as much as the first time, but the quality of sperm remains stable, and that quantity is enough for fertilization to occur. This proves that having sex twice in a row is still possible to get pregnant if there is no reasonable protection.
Once the sperm enters the reproductive system, it can take about 30-45 minutes to reach the egg. For this, it is important to have a healthy sperm which has the right kind of motility to reach the egg and fertilize it. Once inside the body of a woman, a healthy sperm can live up to 2-5 days.
If you are born with an abnormally high egg or sperm count, have an extremely regular cycle, or have many healthy eggs in older age, you could be “super” fertile.
A man can smell when a woman is ovulating - and the proof is in his testosterone, says a new study from Florida State University that had undergraduate men sniffing sweaty T-shirts for course credit.
Around day 14 in the menstrual cycle, a sudden surge in LH causes the ovary to release this egg. This is ovulation. After ovulation, the hormone progesterone rises which helps prepare your uterus for pregnancy.
However, once semen has entered the cervix, there is no scientifically proven way to remove it. If someone is attempting to remove semen from the vagina to avoid becoming pregnant, they should contact their doctor. The doctor may be able to prescribe emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy.
Keep emergency contraception on hand.
Plan for worst-case scenarios if you're using the pull-out method. Emergency contraception, like the morning-after pill, can prevent pregnancy if taken within five days of intercourse. It's a good idea to have some available if you're relying on the pull-out method.
Sperm discharge from the vagina after unprotected sex is entirely normal. If you are trying to conceive, the sperm discharged barely contains any ejaculate and will not hinder the chances of pregnancy. If you are not looking to conceive, even if sperm comes out hours later, some amount is still present in your vagina.
So, what are the chances of getting pregnant without protection? According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 85 out of 100 people of reproductive age who are sexually active can become pregnant within a year if they do not use contraception. The takeaway: Always use protection if you're not trying to conceive.
Having a micropenis doesn't necessarily make you infertile, but it can make conception more challenging. Some research has linked penis lengths less than 2 inches to lower conception rates. 8 If a person has a pituitary disorder that causes micropenis, low testosterone levels may also cause low sperm count.