Where in cycle most fertile?

You're most fertile at the time of ovulation (when an egg is released from your ovaries), which usually occurs 12 to 14 days before your next period starts. This is the time of the month when you're most likely to get pregnant. It's unlikely that you'll get pregnant just after your period, although it can happen.

Ovulation occurs two weeks before the start of your period. Learning to predict your ovulation will give you a better sense of when your most fertile days are so you can increase your chances of getting pregnant. If you don’t wish to become pregnant, these are the days you need to be the most careful if you’re having sexual intercourse.

This article will help you learn how to predict when you'll ovulate. It also discusses some of the problems you may have when trying to predict fertility.

There are six to seven days during your menstrual cycle when you can get pregnant. This is known as your fertile period.

You are most fertile between two and five days before you ovulate, and the day that you ovulate. It's possible you can achieve pregnancy on the day after you ovulate, too.

Once released, an egg only lives for about 24 hours. However, sperm can live in your fallopian tubes for up to five days. So even if you had intercourse a few days before you ovulate, there may still be sperm in your reproductive tract that can fertilize your egg. That's why there are six to seven days that count as being within your most fertile time.

If you have unprotected sex on those days, you may become pregnant.

To figure out your most fertile days each month, you need to know when you’ll ovulate. To pinpoint that time, you’ll need to rely on body awareness and look for ovulation signs each month.

Often, ovulation occurs two weeks before the start of your period.

Natural family planning techniques can help you learn when you ovulate. You can also look at the day that you expect your next period to start and count back 14 days from it. This calculation will give you an idea of when you will ovulate.

If you have a very regular 28-day cycle, ovulation usually happens on day 14. However, if the length of your cycle varies, counting back 14 days won’t be a good way to predict when you will ovulate.

That said, you do not need a 28-day cycle to use this method—you just need a regular cycle.

You can still figure out when you are most fertile if your cycle is longer or shorter than 28 days. The key is knowing that your cycles are reliable.

In other words, if you have a 35-day cycle, then you have a 35-day cycle every month and you can predict when in that cycle your ovaries will release an egg.

When counting the days of your cycle, the day your period starts is day 1. A menstrual cycle usually lasts 26 to 32 days. If you have a typical cycle in this range, ovulation is likely to occur between days 12 and 18.

Timing your ovulation can be tricky because it may not happen on the same day or same time every month. The length of your cycle may also change from month to month.

Even carefully tracking the numbers may not always help you to predict ovulation. You may ovulate earlier or later than you predicted.

A change in the day of ovulation can have a number of causes, including:

If you've determined when you ovulate based on your menstrual cycle, you can estimate your fertile days. They include the six days leading up to the day of ovulation, the day of ovulation itself, and the one day (or 24 hours) after ovulation.

Sperm can live inside your body for up to five days. So let’s say that you ovulate on day 12 of your cycle. If you have sex on days seven, eight, nine, 10, or 11, there could still be sperm living inside you on those days.

When your egg is released on day 12, there could be sperm available to fertilize it.

If you have sex the day after you ovulate, you may also become pregnant. After you ovulate, an egg survives for about 24 hours.

If you happen to ovulate in the afternoon or evening on day 12, then the egg could be fertilized in the 24-hour period after.

This is why it’s best to avoid having unprotected sex the entire day after you ovulate.

Here are some examples to help you calculate your most fertile days.

Remember, these results will be most accurate if you can predict when you ovulate. Use your body signs to help confirm you got the day right.

Basic charting tools can help you most accurately determine when you ovulate. In addition to fertility apps, here are some other tracking tools you might find helpful:

You can become pregnant during and right after ovulation. Sperm can live in your body for up to five days, and you are most fertile for about seven days during your monthly cycle.

You can predict when you will ovulate by tracking your monthly cycle. Count back 14 days from the first day of your period. If you have a predictable cycle, you can use this method to estimate the day you will ovulate.

You can become pregnant if you have unprotected sex in the six days leading up to and including the day you ovulate, plus the day after. Keep in mind that factors like illness, being stressed, and weight loss may cause you to ovulate earlier or later than you predicted.

Smartphone apps, a basal body thermometer, ovulation tests, and other tools can help you keep track of your cycle.

Ovulation occurs when one of the ovaries releases an egg. After release, the egg moves to the fallopian tube, where it will travel to the uterus, which takes about 24 hours.

Pregnancy occurs if sperm travels to the fallopian tube and fertilizes the egg. If sperm does not fertilize the egg, the egg moves to the uterus and breaks down, ready to leave the body during the next menstrual period.

Learn more about sperm here.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, ovulation occurs around 14 days before a person expects to have their next period if their monthly cycle is 28 days.

Most people ovulate between days 11–21 of their cycle. The first day of their last menstrual period (LMP) is day 1 of the cycle. Ovulation does not always occur on the same day every month and can vary by a day or more on either side of the expected date.

Doctors call the part of the cycle around ovulation the fertile window because the chance of pregnancy is highest at this time. For example, if ovulation occurs on day 14, a person can conceive on that day or within the following 24 hours.

However, their fertile window begins a few days before ovulation because sperm can survive for up to 5 days inside the female body. So, even if a person does not have sex on day 14 or 15, it is still possible to become pregnant if they had sex without using contraception on days 9-13.

According to research from 2018, the likelihood of conception rises from day 8, reaching its maximum on day 13 and decreasing to zero by day 30.

However, It is essential to note that these findings should only act as a guideline. Every person and every cycle is different.

It can be helpful for a person to chart their monthly cycle and take note of the signs of ovulation to help pinpoint the exact day of ovulation each month.

Learn more about ovulation here.

Tracking the signs of ovulation can help someone determine the precise day they ovulate each month.

Signs include:

Some of these signs, such as basal body temperature, will continue to change after ovulation. For this reason, a person should not use temperature to predict the fertile window.

It may be helpful for someone to track the signs over a few months to get an idea of what is typical for their body.

But they should keep in mind that there are several variables, and the timing of ovulation can change, month-to-month.

Another option is to use an ovulation predictor kit or fertility monitor.

Fertility aids measure the levels of specific hormones in the urine to determine the ovulation day each month. Some devices also identify days of peak fertility.

Using a combination of these methods may provide an individual with the best accuracy.

The following table, based on research from 2015, summarizes a typical menstrual cycle and how fertile a person is likely to be at each stage:

• sex close to ovulation.
• sperm deposited close to the cervix using positions allowing for deep penetration.
• alkaline environment in the vagina.
• woman having an orgasm first.

Your fertility window is the time during your menstrual cycle when you’re most likely to get pregnant. For most people, it’s the five days leading up to ovulation, the day of ovulation and the day after ovulation. Calculating your monthly fertility window can help you target the optimal time to have sex if you’re trying to conceive. However, natural family planning is a less reliable form of contraception and does not protect against sexually transmitted infections.

If you’re trying to get pregnant and want to track ovulation, you need to understand your menstrual cycle. Your menstrual cycle is your body’s way of preparing for pregnancy. It begins on the first day of your period and starts over when your next period begins. A typical menstrual cycle is 28 days, but cycles ranging from 21 to 35 days are considered normal.

Lots of changes happen in your body during the cycle, including hormone fluctuations. About halfway through, one of your ovaries releases a mature egg. The egg goes to one of your fallopian tubes, where it waits to be fertilized by sperm. The lining of your uterus gets thicker, too. This prepares the uterus for implantation of the fertilized egg.

If you don’t get pregnant, it could mean that the egg didn’t fertilize, or that the embryo (fertilized egg) didn’t implant into the uterus. In those cases, the uterine lining sheds and you get your period.

Knowing when you’re ovulating is key to tracking your fertility window and determining the best time to get pregnant. There are a few different fertility awareness methods, also called rhythm methods. It’s best to use all three methods if you’re doing natural family planning.

Use the calendar method to track the length of your menstrual cycle. Each month, mark the first day of your period on a calendar or in a period-tracking app. The number of days between the first day of consecutive periods is the length of your menstrual cycle. You should do this for at least six months to get good data.

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.

It’s important to note that if you have irregular periods and the length of your menstrual cycle varies from month to month, the calendar method won’t be accurate for you.

Hormone fluctuations during your menstrual cycle change the amount and consistency of your vaginal mucus. You need to feel and look at your vaginal mucus each day and record the results on a chart. You’re likely ovulating (and most fertile) when the mucus is heavy, wet and slippery. It will have the consistency of raw egg whites.

You should chart your vaginal mucus for at least one menstrual cycle. It may be difficult at first to know what to look for, so talk to your provider if you want to try this method. He or she can explain how to chart and describe the mucus each day.

Ovulation predictor kits are an at-home tool to help predict your ovulation. These tests may be helpful if you have regular periods, but still aren’t quite sure if you are seeing natural signs of ovulation (cervical mucus or a rise in basal body temperature). Ovulation predictor kits test your urine for levels of luteinizing hormone. When the ovulation predictor test becomes positive, ovulation will typically occur within 24 hours, indicating that you’re fertile and should have sex. These kits might not be reliable if you have irregular periods due to polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Also called the temperature method, you take your temperature each morning as soon as you wake up (before you get out of bed). You use a basal body thermometer, which may go in your mouth or your rectum. A basal thermometer is more sensitive than a regular thermometer. It measures body temperature to a tenth of a degree.

A woman’s basal body temperature rises slightly during ovulation (increases by 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit). If you track your temperatures leading up to ovulation, you should see a sustained rise in your basal body temperature after ovulation.

To help you plan, write your body temperature down each day on a tracking sheet. You should track your temperature for at least three months before using this method for family planning.

However, it’s important to note that the basal body temperature method is not good at predicting your ovulation when trying to conceive. Once you identify the rise in your temperature, you’ve already ovulated. However, this method is a good tool to monitor your pattern of ovulation.

For the best chances of pregnancy, you should have sex every day or every other day during the:

There’s a lot of information (and misinformation) about methods for having sex that could increase your chances of getting pregnant. There’s no specific sex position that increases your odds of conceiving. Some lubricants may negatively affect sperm and prevent them from reaching the egg. Talk to your health care provider about which lubricants to avoid.

If you have irregular periods, meaning that your periods are outside of the 21–35-day window or if your cycle intervals vary by more than seven days each month (30-day interval one month, 23 days the next month), you should speak with your Gyn/OB or a fertility specialist. This irregularity may be due to a hormone imbalance and could make it more challenging to get pregnant using natural family planning methods.

The number of days in a woman’s menstrual cycle can vary month to month. Periods are not always regular. It can be useful to work out an ‘average’ cycle length, based on the length of three menstrual cycles, to estimate when you’re most likely to be ovulating.

If you add the number of days in three cycles and divide the total number by three, it gives you your average cycle length.

Example

Sarah tracked her last three menstrual cycles by counting the time from the first day of one period, to the day before the next period.