Whether you’re TTC or trying not to have a baby, the question on everyone’s mind is: Can you get pregnant right before your period? Show Are there any subjects more puzzling than pregnancy and periods? We doubt it. When you’re trying to conceive, it can feel like questions about pregnancy, periods, and everything in-between dominate your life. Can you get pregnant right before your period? Can you get pregnant a week before your period? Can you get pregnant on your period, for that matter? Sheesh. It’s just exhausting. Period. So that’s the plan here ‒ to finally get to the bottom of these questions. Here goes: In this article: 📝
Can you get pregnant before your period starts?Can I get pregnant right before my period? We hear you ask. Well… Because our bodies love a gray area, the short answer is: possible, but highly unlikely. When you look at all the people on the planet, it’s pretty hard to imagine that conception can actually only take place in a tiny little monthly window that typically only lasts about 6 days. After all, there are mamas and pregnant people on Peanut who have stories like “I got pregnant a week before my period” or “I got pregnant 1 day before my period”. But, ‘typically’ speaking, most people get pregnant in the lead up to, during, and after ovulation ‒ when your hormones get an egg to release from your ovary. To get pregnant, that egg needs to hook up with some sperm – and fast. As in 12-24 hours after ovulation kind of fast. Ovulation usually happens at about exactly the opposite corner of the month to your period. (At this point, we’ll just irritatingly remind you that, for all the painful symptoms, your period is simply your body getting rid of the egg that didn’t swipe right on any sperm that month.) That’s why, typically at least, the likelihood of pregnancy right before your period is not great. (And if you’re asking can you get pregnant on your period? – the same answer applies.) Can you get pregnant before ovulation?While that would be rather miraculous, there is a possible plot twist that could land you with a positive pregnancy test when you’re not in what you think is your ovulation phase. Even if you have a cycle that is more predictable than a badly-written soap opera, there is a chance that your fertile period may not be that obvious. There are longer and shorter cycles with all sorts of factors like age, stress levels, and just plain genetic makeup that pop in to mess up the predictability of your fertility window – all things you need to try your best to get in touch with if your plan is to conceive. But then, of course, your plan might be to not have a baby right now, or ever, and that’s totally valid. If that’s the case, there are lots of different forms of birth control that may be available to you ‒ whatever works for you! Do you ovulate before or after your period?Look, your fertile window is only about 7 to 10 days, so technically everything outside of that time should be a safe zone. Technically. But how many days are you likely to get pregnant right before period? Can you get pregnant a week before your period, or can you get pregnant the day before your period? Let’s look at the chances of getting pregnant right before period. It is possible to get pregnant before period ‒ or at any point in your menstrual cycle. Here are the chances of getting pregnant during a ‘typical’ menstrual cycle:
However, menstrual cycles can last anywhere between 21 and 45 days, so your individual days of ovulation and chances of getting pregnant before period might be different, but you can use this as a guide. Can you conceive right before your period?If pregnancy isn’t on your cards right now, we’d recommend using some form of birth control ‒ there are lots of choices, so have a chat with your healthcare provider to see which suits you best. But what happens if you conceive right before your period? As in you’re the one in an infinity of chances case. Can you get pregnant right before your period and still have a period? Yes, you can. It’s possible. It. Is. Possible. But again, highly unlikely. For all those high school biology classes, nobody seems to ever want to tell us exactly how it feels to actually be inside your own body – and how often real-life seems to deviate from the textbook. The reality of women’s bodies seems to be such a well-kept secret that some of the most necessary questions we need to answer make the big decisions in our lives, seem almost rhetorical. So, to sum up, can you get pregnant right before your period? Technically, yes, although the chances are slim. You might also like: How many days before your period are you pregnant?Understanding your menstrual cycle
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.
Can I get pregnant 3 days before my period?Can I get pregnant just before my period? The probability of conceiving if you have sex two or three days before your period is extremely low. Since your egg lives for around 12 to 24 hours after it is released, this means your fertility window closes soon after you ovulate.
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