If you ovulate in the morning can you get pregnant that night?
Dr Raelia Lew says ‘Yes, you can.’
The idea with timing sex for conception is to have heaps of fertile sperm hanging around a while before you ovulate. When you release an egg, it has an approximately 24 hour window to normally fertilise.
Sperm however sticks around in the female genital tract after ejaculation for a relatively long time in comparisson: five to seven days.
It’s often hard to know exactly when you ovulate. Many people falsely think it is when you see fertile mucous that you ovulate, or when you see a luteinising hormone spike on an ovulation predictor kit (OPK), neither of which are true.
If your OPK is positive, it means you will ovulate within the next 2 days.
I had sex 18 hours after ovulation: can I get pregnant?
Yes. this is still within the eggs fertile window.
I had sex 3 days before ovulating: can I get pregnant?
Yes, if your partner’s sperm is normal, it will be able to stay the distance to fertilise your egg. It doesn’t always work out. Only 50% of eggs that meet sperm will fertilise. But in terms of fertile window timing, this still checks out.
I had sex on my ovulation day: can I get pregnant?
The highest chance of conceiving in your menstrual cycle is by having sex on the day you ovulate and the day prior to your ovulation (the probability is about the same).
OK, I think I’m getting it right. I’m still not pregnant…
If it seems like you are doing everything right but are just not getting pregnant, please reach out for help. There could be something wrong we need to know about and to address. If it has been over 6 months, it’s time to get both yourself and your partner into gear to do some fertility tests and seek a RANZCOG Board Certified CREI Fertility Specialist opinion.
Written by Dr Raelia Lew
RANZCOG Board Certified CREI Fertility specialist, Gynaecologist and the Director of Women’s Health Melbourne.
Co-host of the Knocked Up Podcast, Co-founder of Lovers intimate wellness solutions. Raelia has a PhD in Preconception Health Promotion and Genetic Screening. Raelia is a leading Australian expert in IVF and egg freezing, pioneering a bespoke model of care.