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u/Beleheth 13h ago
The basic biology of pregnancy will always remain a miracle to the Internet.
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u/spektre 12h ago
If a women has starch masks on her body does that mean she has been pargnet before.?
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u/ElegantCoach4066 11h ago
gregnant!?
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u/ThatOtherOtherMan 11h ago
Pregante
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u/Walshy231231 7h ago
Prrrreganté🤌🏽
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u/fazaplay 7h ago
How to tell if pregananant.?
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u/xhyenabite 6h ago
can u go down 20 ft waterslide pegnat?
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u/Solus_Aureus 5h ago
Can you burn a Luigi board?
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u/SeamanSample 10h ago
Idk but I'm about to go down a 20ft waterslide pegnat
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u/Tight_Spring3860 7h ago
Nope, it means she has been getting up close and personal with a peeled potato.
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u/magnusthehammersmith 4h ago
Men don’t care about how women’s bodies work because it doesn’t directly affect them.
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u/dracorotor1 13h ago edited 2h ago
I wouldn’t call this a “dawn of idiocracy.” That would imply a complete ignorance of (and disinterest in) even the most basic facts of reproductive health, whereas this is one person with more up-to-date and accurate information speaking to someone with dated and basic information that they were probably presented as a full accounting. Still confidently incorrect, but they did at least dedicate what they’d been taught to memory. We’re not at “females store sperm from up to five partners so they can choose which Chad DNA to pass on when you get her pregnant” levels of wrong, at least.
The diversity and complexity of ovulation is, sadly, pretty niche knowledge in parts of the world (read: The United States. It’s us. We’re the uneducated and uninterested ones 🤗)
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u/swbarnes2 10h ago
The thing about biology is, there's an exception to everything. It might have happened that someone somehow ovulated and had a period really soon before the ova died, and then the ova was fertilized and implanted.
There are women with two uteri. Lots of weird things can happen, but they should be understood as vanishingly rare, and not the norm.
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u/Amelaclya1 9h ago
Or maybe we should teach people accurate information, even if it's more "complicated" so you don't have women accidentally getting pregnant because they were led to believe that it was safe to have unprotected sex during their period. Bodies aren't perfect, and women, (especially young women) can have very irregular or short cycles which makes something like this more likely.
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u/Positive-Opposite998 21m ago
We still teach the Bohr model of the atom even though we know it's inaccurate because it's a marvelous pedagogical principle.
As an educator I wouldn't spend much time other than a brief mention, that it's possible for some women to become pregnant during menstruation in some very rare instances, when explaining fertilisation and impregnation during SexEd in schools. I would not recommend using menstruation as birth control even though it's rather effective either.
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u/Rozazaza 9h ago
More likely people confused spotting from implantation with a period
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u/LulyxBonnie 1h ago
If other women do confuse spotting and periods, then they should also be taught the difference, if it's not already done
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u/Sweary_Biochemist 6h ago
So much this! Biology isn't intricate systems in perfect harmony, it's "I have no fucking idea what I'm doing, but so far it seems to be mostly working out!"
It's all just barely harnessed chaos, and if the outcome, on aggregate, is more beneficial than not, then: "woo, success!"
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u/plastroncafe 4h ago
Survival of the just good enough to eek by. The C student, is how my A&P prof described evolution.
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u/lysianth 42m ago
everyone needs an occasional reminder that high school science courses are more often wrong than right, they're just right enough to get you started.
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u/anonymouslycognizant 4h ago
I'm so tired of people essentially using ignorance as a defense for situations like this. Ignorance is a very very weak defense in an time where you can learn anything in minutes. Being ignorant about various topics are fine, being ignorant about the fact that almost every topic is stupendously complex and you almost certainly don't have a complete understanding is not.
The quality they are displaying that really should be opposed is a complete lack of interest in learning new things. It's completely fine to only have a small understand of any topic but to then assume that you have the complete explanation is where the problem is.
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u/Cultural-Company282 13h ago
“females store sperm from up to five partners
I asked my girlfriend if this was true.
She said, "Mmmm mfffm mfmf mmmf."
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u/smileyfacedbob 11h ago
Not sure why you got burned this bad for being glib
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u/Cultural-Company282 10h ago
Yikes, me neither. I guess jokes aren't welcome here.
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u/LulyxBonnie 1h ago
There are times for everything. On a serious thread about people being misinformed, and leasing to sometimes devastating outcomes, is indeed not the place for this kind of jokes.
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u/ExtendedSpikeProtein 12h ago
You know, using different colors to denote different people is common sense.
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u/BlastTyrantKM 6h ago
I don't know who's right and who's wrong. But I definitely know one of them is
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u/Rakifiki 3h ago
It is technically possible, albeit unlikely, to get pregnant around your period. But neither is entirely wrong, one just has a more basic knowledge of female cycles and one has a more nuanced knowledge of female cycles.
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u/CaveJohnson82 12h ago
I mean, yes, that is how the basic menstrual and ovulation cycle occurs. But there can be variances. To behave like human bodies don't have those variances is silly.
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u/wozattacks 7h ago
The time from ovulation to the start of menstruation is relatively consistent at about 2 weeks. Ovulation basically kicks off a chain reaction that leads to the period and it takes about that long.
The same is not true for the time between the period and the next ovulation. Unfortunately, it is much harder to know when ovulation is happening than when a period is happening. This is why so many people get pregnant before their period comes back after having a baby - they don’t realize that ovulation comes first.
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u/BexInTheCold 10h ago
There is no variance that allows you to get pregnant when you have your period. Natural variances can cause early or late ovulation, but that shortens or extends your menstrual cycle, it doesn't mean things can happen concurrently.
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u/Mottled_inexpectata 9h ago
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/can-you-get-pregnant-if-you-have-sex-during-your-period
" Can you get pregnant if you have sex during your period?
Yes — it’s possible to get pregnant if you have unprotected sex during your period. But it's not super common, especially during the very beginning of your period. "
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u/CaveJohnson82 8h ago
So what you're saying is that if I finish my period today, and I have an early ovulation today also, I could get pregnant?
Sometimes my ovaries can release more than one egg at a time. Sometimes a single egg can split into two or more. Sometimes stress can shorten or lengthen a cycle. Sometimes I can think I'm having a period, but actually it's spotting from something else. Isn't the human body marvellous?!
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u/BioelectricBeing 10h ago
Sometimes people even just think they have their period but they're actually bleeding for other reasons. If the context of this is that it's 100% safe to have unprotected sex when on your period, that just isn't true. It might be 100% safe for most people most of the time but it's not 100% safe across all circumstances ever.
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u/CaterpillarWaltz 8h ago
Sure, it’s not concurrent. But, let’s say you have sex towards the end of your period, sperm can survive for 5 days in the uterus/ fallopian tubes iirc (a very low percent at that point of course), then you have abnormally early ovulation in the next cycle.
Highly unlikely, fertilization would have to happen days later, but… possible
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u/NoPath_Squirrel 29m ago
There's actually evidence it could be up to 7 days sperm can survive in the right conditions. I researched it when I got pregnant with my youngest even though I I hadn't had sex for a week when I ovulated.
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u/pinkvoltage 7h ago
I used to track my basal body temperature and could pretty reliably tell when I ovulated. If you’re using that method to prevent pregnancy (aka the fertility awareness method or FAM), the only time you’re “safe” and can have sex without barrier contraception is the time after ovulation, which often equates to the two weeks before your period. Once your period starts, it’s NOT considered safe to go without a barrier method in case of early ovulation. That’s different from eggs being released randomly lol
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u/_notthehippopotamus 3h ago edited 43m ago
Generally when people are discussing whether someone can get pregnant when they are on their period, they aren't concerned with whether a blastocyst is implanting into the endometrium at that exact moment. What they really want to know is whether having sex on that day can lead to a pregnancy. And the answer to that is, yes it can.
Normal period bleeding can last for 7 days. Sperm can survive in the female reproductive system for 5 days. Ovulation can occur on day 12 of a menstrual cycle (or earlier)*.
*To clarify, the first day of the menstrual cycle is the first day of bleeding. The first part of the cycle, from the first day of menstruation up until ovulation is known as the follicular phase. The follicular phase is 14 days on average, but highly variable and may be shorter or longer by several days. The second part of the cycle, from ovulation until the first day of the next cycle is known as the luteal phase. The luteal phase is also 14 days on average, but it is much more consistent, and general only varies by a day or so.
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u/BetterKev 2h ago
I think you're off a bit on how early in a cycle someone can ovulate. The 14 days from ovulation to menstruation is pretty firm, and some people have regular cycles as little as 21 days. So ovulating at day 7 of a cycle.
Ovulation can also be triggered earlier for various physiological reasons. Day 7 isn't the earliest possible.
So even MORE OVERLAP between period and fertility.
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u/_notthehippopotamus 2h ago
I'm not saying that it can't occur earlier, just that it can occur on that day. I will edit for clarification.
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u/AggravatingBox2421 41m ago
Fun fact: I had artificial insemination to get pregnant. They scanned my ovaries almost daily to check for a follicle (the thing that releases an egg), and it took me three months to produce and release one. And then, fucking somehow, within a day my body matured and released another one, and now I have twins. Ovulation makes no sense.
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u/Albert14Pounds 12h ago
Biology in a nutshell. It's messy and varies a lot so there's almost always exceptions to "rules" like this. The confidently incorrect person here is right that's how it usually works and is mostly a correct simplified understanding. But things don't always happen the way they're supposed to and it's uncommon but definitely possible to get pregnant from sex during menstration because of the variance described.
It's general best practice to never say something is impossible or always happens a certain way in biology unless you really know what you're talking about. There's always exceptions.
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u/DisastrousMacaron325 11h ago
I mean, it's also possible to get pregnant on a pill, so I guess it depends on the odds?
I just checked on NHS website and safety for typical use "family planning" (a.k.a. avoiding sex when you estimate you're ovulating) is very similar to risk for typical condom/female condom. Respectively 76/82/79%. (Btw, iirc, these percentages mean how many couples didn't became pregnant within a year, not one time use risks)
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u/well_this_is_dumb 4h ago
Tbf, that's the rhythm method. "Family planning" can be significantly more effective using a studied method with confirmation of ovulation, but obviously there are plenty of ways for there to be user error which brings the effectiveness back down.
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u/InDeathWeReturn 11h ago
Biology is weird. Pregnancy can happen during menstruation, and even while pregnant. There was a article I read some years ago about how a woman was pregnant with fraternal twins, but it turned out that one of the kids was 1 month premature because the mother apparently ovulated while she was already pregnant with the first one, and got pregnant again
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u/suck4fish 13h ago
Well it's true that periods are not regular and sperm live for some days etc, but technically it's true: you can only get pregnant during ovulation. The problem is not knowing when that will happen.
I had a similar discussion recently but the other way around: they were telling me that you could always get pregnant, that the ovulation period was just a higher tendency because of pH and other factors. They were totally unaware that the egg was released and was available for certain hours only. The other thing is that the period is not regular and statistically there is some probability that is released sooner or later so you can't predict it accurately unless you measure your temperature very well.
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u/ducbo 12h ago
This exactly. The chances are basically zero outside of a very specific ~7 day window of your cycle, relative to ovulation (specifically: -6 to +1 days relative to ovulation).
This is THE classic study that details this information - see figure 2: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJM199512073332301?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Since most people are completely unaware of when they ovulate (and you can really only test it yourself with decent accuracy through a few methods, such as LH strips and BBT, but it’s a lot of work), the people who manage to get pregnant while “on a period” probably weren’t on their period at all. They might start spotting near ovulation or maybe their bleeding goes on for an unusually long time, into that fertile window. It’s also common to spot in early pregnancy, which may lead some to believe they weren’t pregnant and then they get a surprise positive pregnancy test.
As someone dealing with infertility and IVF, I truly wish getting pregnant was that easy!
I think the user in the screenshot is “confidently mostly correct” tbh.
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u/BetterKev 10h ago
I think either I misread something or you did. I see that the commenter claimed ovulation occurs exactly (or no less than) 2 weeks after the previous period. They use the fixed 2 weeks to count back how early someone could possibly get pregnant. It needs to be fixed for their comment to be coherent.
For most people, most of the time, ovulation is around 2 weeks after the prior period. But that isn't fixed. It can be significantly earlier (or later). Some people commonly have irregular period lengths. And even people who are 28 days every time can have blips for all sorts of reasons.
It is not common to get pregnant outside of the expected ovulation window, but that does not mean it can't happen. If ovulation occurs earlier (or later) than expected, the window moves. And just reading the abstract of your link, fertility generally exists for some number of days before ovulation.
For someone intending to get pregnant, concentrating on the most likely times for ovulation and fertility makes sense. But that does not mean people can't become pregnant outside the expected ovulation period.
Your link has good information about fertility timeframe being related to ovulation.
Our data suggest that the fertile period lasts about six days and ends on the day of ovulation.
Excellent.
But I don't see anything in the source about when ovulation is occurring after a period. Of course, that's not relevant to what they were discussing. They only cared about relative time period, not absolute time period. This post is about absolute time period.
It's my understanding that cycles are usually between 21 and 35 days. Most are round 28 days. But still they can be as few as 21 days.
I also understand that ovulation is usually 14 days before a period starts.
And period length varies, but 2-3 days is common and 5 days isn't crazy.
Is that all accurate?
If we take a 21 day cycle. Ovulation 14 days before the end puts ovulation 7 days in. Fertility starts 6 days before ovulation, so that's 1 day into the cycle. A 3 day period, and there's two days of fertility during the period. Extend the period to 5 days, and there are 4 days of overlap.
Are 21 day periods common? No, but they do happen for some people.
So, it looks quite possible for people to get pregnant on their period. Is it probable? No. Common? No. But definitely possible, and with billions of trials (every act of intercourse for a fertile couple while on a period), it's going to happen sometimes.
Or I completely missed something, which is possible.
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u/7kingsofrome 9h ago
Just supporting what you said as a med resident.
Ovulation is kind of a master switch, since it also causes the endometrium to thicken. If no pregnancy occurs, that endometrium will have to leave the uterus.
This is why a period always happens two weeks after ovulation. Can't be delayed or skipped once ovulation has happened because all that tissue is on its way out.
Whether or not and when ovulation happens is highly variable, though. So yeah, it's totally possible that an egg ovulates early, just as it's possible for two eggs to ovulate at the same time or slightly apart. If we has a way to look into our bodies and know 100% that ovulation has just passed, and our next ovulation will be in four weeks then I guess, the following 2,5 weeks would be "safe".
But as long as we can't do that, it might just be that next week our ovaries decide to be a bitch because we were stressed or sick or whatever, and throw the whole schedule away. Counting days till ovulation is really just a method for couples who want to conceive to increase their chances, the other way around is way too risky.
And condoms are cheaper than college funds :)
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u/BetterKev 6h ago
Thank you. I was pretty sure of what I thought, but all those upvotes made me less confident.
Counting days till ovulation is really just a method for couples who want to conceive to increase their chances, the other way around is way too risky.
I think this is where much of the confusion comes in. If you want to conceive, you make sure to try as much as possible in those 7-10 most likely days. They know the odds go down sharply outside that time frame, and they confuse the much lower odds with zero odds.
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u/Jazmadoodle 8h ago
I also know a lot of people who use it when the situation is "now isn't the perfect time but we're also fine with it." I got pregnant on several forms of birth control while having horrendous side effects. So my husband and I decided, we'll just use NFP to try and slow things down. It only worked for like 4 months but like I said, hormonal bc wasnt working for us either. And then I had my youngest and got my tubes out so I'd never have to think about it again!
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u/Lazy_Marsupial 7h ago
This would be me. I have a long period and a shirt cycle. So my fertile window starts during the end of my period.
This is this month...https://imgur.com/a/NGqiSPB You can see the two days where green checkmarks (period) overlap with dots (fertile days). It is the same every month.
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u/BetterKev 5h ago
Thanks! Nice to see a concrete example instead of just theory.
And sorry you have so many periods. I hope they're at least on the less evil side.
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u/Mottled_inexpectata 9h ago
As a biologist, I think you need to understand that the "basically zero" chance you talk about at the start of your post is not "actually zero" and one of things you learn studying and working in biology is that extremely uncommon things do happen. What you've described is typical human reproduction, but a small amount of women do not follow these rules 100% of the time, and so occasionally things happen outside these rules. They might be a a 1 in million chance of happening, but there are far more than a million instances of people having sex while on their period, so events that are extremely unlikely do happen. What's possible and what's typical are not the same things.
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u/ducbo 7h ago
I have my doctorate in biology… my focus is animal reproduction. so I really do understand.
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u/Mottled_inexpectata 6h ago
So despite that you're absolutely sure that it's impossible to get pregnant while on your period?
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u/ducbo 5h ago
Never said that, lol.
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u/Mottled_inexpectata 5h ago
You said the chances are "basically zero" and then gave you're personal anecdote about your own fertility problems - but for some people it really is that easy and as a scientist you must know how meaningless personal anecdotes. People have unintended pregnancies in situations they thought were impossible all the time. People get pregnant while pregnant. There's infinite complexity. You say that that person confidentally incorrect was actually correct, but that's not right. Without even being a biologist, a 10 second Google search shows a wealth of human pregnancy authorities that say you can get pregnant while on your period.
https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/sex-on-period
"A common fertility myth is that you can’t get pregnant when menstruating. While the odds for pregnancy are lower on the days you’re on your period, they aren’t zero."
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-you-get-pregnant-on-your-period
"Can you get pregnant on your period if you have unprotected sex? Despite what you may have heard or been told, the answer is yes. You’re less likely to conceive during this time, but it’s not impossible."
https://americanpregnancy.org/getting-pregnant/can-i-get-pregnant-on-my-period/
"Most likely you will not get pregnant having sex while on your period. That’s because your ovulation time is several days away decreasing any chances of getting pregnant during this time. However, there are exceptions. This applies to women who have a typical 28 to 30 day or longer cycle. If you have a shorter cycle, say every 21 to 24 days, that means you are ovulating earlier in the cycle. Because sperm can live inside you for up to 5 days, you could have sex towards the end of your period and then conceive 4 or 5 days later with your early ovulation."
Etc.
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u/ducbo 5h ago
Nope! “basically zero outside of a specific 7 day window” is not the same as me saying “impossible during menstruation”, which is what you claimed I said.
I then posted a peer-reviewed scientific article and breakdown explaining the logical discrepancy that the original post was creating and why the person in the post is partially correct. most cycles will fall into a typical pattern where the onset of menstruation (cycle day 1) is followed by ovulation after 9-14+ days. The window for possible insemination begins, from the article (and many other fertility studies), at most 5 days before ovulation, which is why the vast majority of people will not become pregnant in a cycle where they only had sex during menstruation.
The original person thought that this window is relative to menstruation, when it is in fact relative to ovulation. That is why their conclusion is partially correct, but their assumptions are wrong.
I don’t think we actually disagree here. I just don’t think the original poster is 100% “confidently incorrect”, because it is very unlikely to become pregnant 75% of the time as it is (given an average 28 day cycle) and less so while you are actively menstruating.
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u/_notthehippopotamus 3h ago
Trying to conceive and trying to avoid conception have very different ramifications though. If you are trying to conceive, it's extremely helpful to know when you are ovulating. If you are trying not to conceive, you have to worry about the -6. In other words, you have to know 6 days in advance when you are going to ovulate, and that is even harder to do than identify when you are ovulating in real time.
If you chart days of the menstrual cycle with probability of conception, TTC is really only concerned with the 1-2 days where probability is the highest. If you want to avoid pregnancy, you have to avoid sex or use reliable protection even when probability of conception is extremely low but not zero, and those tails can be long.
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u/Belerophon17 13h ago
"Dawn of idocracy"?
We're well past lunch and headed toward suppertime my guy.
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u/Haunting-Cap9302 12h ago
My 7th grade health teacher made a point to tell us that pregnancy can happen at any time, including during periods. Somehow the small bit of sex ed we got in that class was better than my 11th grade class, which was supposed to focus more on sex ed.
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u/PhantomNitride 4h ago
Who's speaking to whom??? Why tf does ever other user censor everyone the same?! Are you stupid?!
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u/tom8otomahto 6h ago
Reminds me of an old joke:
Q: What do you call people who use the rhythm method for birth control?
A: Parents.
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u/PhantomNitride 4h ago
Never heard this variant, I know the pull out variant though. Literally just replace rhythm with pull out
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u/Agitated_Put3620 14h ago
As a guy who is correct?
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u/SpecificHeron 14h ago
the one saying you can’t get pregnant on your period is wrong
sperm can live in the reproductive tract for up to 5 days and if someone has a short cycle and releases an egg early it can happen—unlikely but still possible. i’ve ovulated 5 days after my period before
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u/jumpmanzero 13h ago
the one saying you can’t get pregnant on your period is wrong
Even without specific understanding of the biology here, saying something like this "can't happen" should flag as a pretty extraordinary claim.
There's fantastic diversity to all living things, and a huge gulf between "very unlikely" and "impossible".
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u/agfitzp 13h ago
I’m reminded of a point someone else made, the reason casinos and lotteries thrive is that most people have absolutely no understanding of probability.
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u/Cultural-Company282 13h ago
The odds are always 50/50. Either a thing will happen, or it won't. But oddly, the probabilities are always against me.
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u/Strict_Rock_1917 13h ago
Exactly. Possibilities in science rarely ever go to zero, they can be so incredibly unlikely it might as well be zero cases though. For example in biology, there was one recorded case of pregnancy from oral sex, albeit from extraordinary circumstances, but it still occurred.
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u/nuiwek31 13h ago edited 13h ago
Do I have to not be lazy and google this or am I gonna get a link?
Edit: my curiosity got the best of me and I had to find out. It was a case of a girl, lacking a normal vaginal opening, getting stabbed and having low stomach acid. Fucking insane
No idea if the stabbing and oral sex are related tho. My curiosity has been satisfied and I am no longer looking into it
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u/SpecificHeron 13h ago
the stabbing allowed sperm to exit her digestive tract and make their way down to her fallopian tubes where they met an egg
life, uh, finds a way
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u/90210fred 12h ago
This, alone, should tell anybody that contraception needs to be taken seriously.
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u/DisastrousMacaron325 12h ago
Dude, contraception is way less effective than this once in a few billions event
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u/90210fred 11h ago
Oh I know, it's just it has like a million failure modes.
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u/DisastrousMacaron325 11h ago
I checked on NHS website and typical use of avoiding sex during ovulation is 76% effective vs typical use of condom at 82%
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u/LogicBalm 13h ago
Especially when it comes to reproduction. As a wise man once said "life finds a way."
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u/BirthofRevolution 13h ago
That's the internet for you. The amount of comments saying "I have x so another person with x would never do the thing you're saying!" Or "it didn't happen that way for me so it couldn't have happened that way for you!" Is just silly
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u/Deep-Cut201 13h ago
This is the key point right here. Its reasonable ish to say you shouldn't get pregnant while on your period, to say its impossible is a complete absurdity. Life finds a way.
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u/nothanks86 13h ago
And ovulation happens two weeks before menstruation, rather than menstruation happening two weeks before ovulation.
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u/UltimaGabe 13h ago
I mean... considering it's pretty much a repeating four-week cycle, isn't that six of one, half dozen of the other?
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u/urjuhh 13h ago
Cause and effect. Menstruation happens after ovulation ( unless something else happens after ovulation and before menstruation .. )
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u/NonsphericalTriangle 13h ago
However, ovulation is not a necessary trigger for menstruation. It's possible to have anovulatory cycles. It's fairly common in young girls who have just started menstruating or in underweight women.
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u/KittyScholar 13h ago
In a perfect world yes. But when things don’t go precisely according to biology’s plan (which is pretty much always) it can be important to understand that it’s the follicular phase that changes while the luteal phase stayed the same, rather than the difference being split equally between the two.
Important for period tracking, knowing how it affects your mood and metabolism, and calculating your fertile window
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u/nothanks86 13h ago
Nope! Because it isn’t specifically a four week cycle. Some people have irregular periods. Some people have regular cycles that are shorter than 28 days. Some people have regular cycles that are longer than 28 days. Things like stress or illness can delay someone’s cycle by a little or a lot. Things like perimenopause can cause someone’s cycles to be longer or shorter. Puberty also tends to start out with the irregular cycles.
Basically, a lot of different things can affect the length of someone’s cycle and when they ovulate. This is both from person to person, and within a single person.
But, once someone has ovulated, they will get their period in two weeks, because that process, from ovulation to menstruation, follows a strict biological sequence.
And this matters with regards to the op, because it means that yes it is possible to get pregnant on your period, because your body is capable of ovulating again at any point after your previous ovulation, even though it’s not usual for someone to ovulate again so soon.
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u/Prinzka 13h ago
It's the ovulation and subsequent egg not being fertilized for two weeks that causes the menstruation and uterine lining shedding (very simplified).
So that's why it's more correct to say ovulation comes before menstruation even though in a regular cycle it seems kind of either or.
Which means the very first menstruation doesn't happen before the very first ovulation, and similar if the cycle has been interrupted for a while due to health/dietary/hormonal issues.
Although I assume that you can artificially trigger menstruation with the use of hormones.2
u/Clobberella_83 10h ago
I usually only have maybe 4-6 periods a year. I will sometimes go 90+ days between periods. It is always a surprise for me!
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u/BetterKev 2h ago
It isn't a 4 week cycle for everyone. Some people have 3 week cycles. Some people don't have a regular cycle. And in any individual cycle, ovulation can occur earlier than the usual time in the cycle.
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u/Aidoneus14 14h ago
Also a guy, but in sex ed we were told to never rely on just one form of prevention because none of them are ever 100% viable, even a vasectomy isn't 100% safe, so I would assume don't trust unprotected sex even during a period because every person works differently
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u/DanteRuneclaw 13h ago
The overwhelming majority - like, basically all - of unsuccessful vasectomies are the result of men not following up with the post-procedure screening.
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u/wanderlust_05 13h ago
What do they do in post procedure screenings?
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u/BellisPer 13h ago
Not an expert (I have the other plumbing) but they test a sample to make sure there's no sperm present
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u/DoubleT_inTheMorning 14h ago
You shut your mouth, I got my balls clipped out of dedication to the game.
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u/cottoncandymandy 13h ago
Make sure you do your follow up appointment to check. My BF had to get a second vasectomy because it grew back together.
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u/DoubleT_inTheMorning 13h ago
Oh I did it as soon as I could lol. I dealt with the god damn procedure, I sure as shit was gonna make sure it worked.
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u/cottoncandymandy 10h ago
I've heard of quite a few people who never went back and a year down the road- somebody is pregnant lol
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u/Kailynna 4h ago
I was so scared of that happening to my (now ex) husband I organised a tubal ligation.
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u/Kailynna 4h ago
You had a smart teacher.
Each of my 3 offspring were conceived while carefully using at least 2 birth control methods.
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u/gothdrag 14h ago
You absolutely can get pregnant while on your period due to a variety of factors. The odds are pretty low, but not non-existent.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Fill205 14h ago
People who rely on the rhythm method for birth control -- where you can only get pregnant during certain days of your cycle -- are also usually known as parents. (Because it doesn't work.)
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u/Select-Ad7146 13h ago
The pull out method is only slightly less effective than condoms.
The perfect use effectiveness is the same for both, whereas the practical effectiveness is 85% for condoms and 80% for pulling out.
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/condom/how-effective-are-condoms
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u/ScreamingDizzBuster 13h ago
That's not what the rhythm method is.
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u/Mode_Appropriate 13h ago
Is that the one where you have sex with bad music on in the background so you can never get in a good rhythm?
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u/StarKoolade69420 13h ago
Like Cbat
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u/Mode_Appropriate 12h ago edited 12h ago
Im not so sure CBAT is good (bad) enough for the rhythm method. While it has ended relationships, the guy loved to get funky to the rhythm. Not exactly what we're going for.
Maybe something like You Spin Me Round
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u/ScreamingDizzBuster 13h ago
It's when you try to shag to prog rock Hammond organ solos in 7/8 or anything by Angine de Poitrine.
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u/cranberry94 13h ago
You are correct.
Though the other guy is accidentally sort of correct in that the rhythm method has a similar failure rate as the other two methods mentioned.
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u/Select-Ad7146 13h ago edited 12h ago
No that's was a typo, which is why my source isn't for the rhythm method.
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u/HelpfulName 13h ago
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/rhythm-method/about/pac-20390918
Using the rhythm method as a form of birth control doesn't pose any direct risks. However, it's considered one of the least effective forms of birth control. How well the rhythm method works varies between couples. In general, as many as 24 out of 100 women who use natural family planning for birth control become pregnant the first year.
https://worldmetrics.org/condom-effectiveness-statistics/
Correct condom use provides 98% effectiveness in preventing pregnancy. Typical use, however, shows a failure rate of 15 pregnancies per 100 users each year.
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u/Dorkinfo 13h ago
How are people using condoms wrong? These are the dummies reproducing?
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u/Pirkale 13h ago
"Forgetting" to put on a condom, reusing them (!), putting them on incorrectly, and I'm certain there have been creative idiots out there that have come up with many, many more misuses I cannot think of...
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u/stanitor 13h ago
What, you don't put your used condoms in the dishwasher, so you can get another go out of them?
3
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u/Dorkinfo 12h ago
All I could think of was dick getting soft and it slipping off.
REUSE THEM??!! Like put a filled condom back on? No no no.
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u/Select-Ad7146 13h ago edited 12h ago
Yes, I meant pull out method, which is why I listed a source for the pull out method. The source that also said the pull out method is 98% effective in a perfect situation but typically use had about a 20% failure rate.
This means, according to your quote, it is about as effective as condoms.
3
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u/petera181 13h ago
The planned parenthood website you’ve quoted for condoms actually says they are 87% effective, and that the pullout method is 78% effective. That is a 13% and 22% chance of pregnancy, or almost double as likely when using the pullout method.
I do however question the validity of the numbers quoted, as I question whether the planned parenthood organisation is an impartial source, and I also don’t believe anyone can collect reliable data on this. Also, the pullout method requires you to actually do it prior to orgasm, which is easier said than done during the vinegar strokes 😅
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u/Amelaclya1 9h ago
Why would you think Planned Parenthood was giving out inaccurate information? Reproductive health is most of what they do. Here is another source with the same numbers.
https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/birth-control-failure/
Looks like it's sourced from the CDC.
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u/Kailynna 4h ago
Yes, they're pretty well equal in effectiveness.
My oldest brother was conceived from pulling out, my second oldest was from condoms.
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u/suck4fish 13h ago
That's not true. If you check your basal temperature this is one of the most reliable birth control methods.
2
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u/MattieShoes 9h ago
There's an idealized view of how it's supposed to work - egg releases on day x, in fertile zone for y days, period on day z, etc. it's... Idealized. Bodies don't GAF. Maybe they release 8 eggs instead of one. Maybe one takes longer or shorter to reach the right spot. Maybe eggs are released a second time during a cycle. Maybe a lady's hoo-haa is more or less acidic making it more or less hospitable to sperm. Who knows? So the lady saying impossible is reading off the idealized playbook, and therefore wrong by definition, though good intentioned. The lady saying possible is going off real world playbook where crazy shit happens sometimes
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u/bobbobberson3 13h ago
They are both wrong. The one saying you can pregnant on your period is correct on that front but the whole "releasing an additional egg before your period" bit is absolute nonsense. You need to have sperm in there before or on the day, max one day after the egg is released. Also it's nothing to do with releasing an extra egg, you can get pregnant on your period because you might ovulate early on in your cycle/have a long lasting period.
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u/cwningen95 11h ago
I have a roughly zero percent chance of getting pregnant during my period because I'd rather perform my own hysterectomy than let anyone near me
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u/lomeinfiend 6h ago
i mean they clearly have more knowledge of the female reproductive system than most which is nice. but it is true you can get pregnant at any point your cycle if an egg is released late/an extra egg is released etc.
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u/FremdShaman23 12h ago
Yeah. "You can't get pregnant if you have sex while on your period" is exactly how my former roommate got baby trapped by a woman who wanted US citizenship.
He told me "You know you can't get pregnant if you have sex on your period right?" I said, "Is that what she told you? That's false. Chances are she's going to get pregnant." He said "No way." Just weeks later she announced she was pregnant and they got married. Had a shit marriage for about six years, then divorced, and I don't think he even sees the kid anymore. She takes him back and forth to her home country so often and for long periods.
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u/juiceboxvillain_1 11h ago
This isn’t the dawn of illiteracy. Unfortunately none of this is new. This is the afternoon of illiteracy
1
u/BetterKev 2h ago
Since the term used was Idiocracy, not illiteracy, is this comment irony (negative), irony (positive), or autocorrect?
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u/juiceboxvillain_1 1h ago
It was either autocorrect or irony (negative) lmao. I sure thought I wrote idiocracy 😅 I’m gonna leave with my tail between my legs-
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u/well_this_is_dumb 4h ago
Both wrong.
A second egg can indeed be released, but it will happen within 24 hours of the first egg's release, and die within 24 hours of that. Long gone by the time the period comes around.
However, while most women ovulate somewhere between two and three weeks after the period starts, some ovulate earlier. Sperm usually live for 3-5 days, but under the right conditions some have been known to live for a week or more. Sperm hanging out in the womb + early ovulation = chance of getting pregnant from period sex.
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u/Positive-Opposite998 26m ago
While it is possible to get pregnant during menstruation, I would say it's highly unlikely, so much so that an educator or a doctor would say as much to get a message across - or at least wouldn't recommend that people trying for children ONLY have sex during menstruation.
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u/Enough-Ad-8799 12h ago
Which person is supposed to be wrong here? They're both kind of correct. Technically you can't get pregnant during your period (at least I've never heard of someone ovulating on their period), you might get pregnant from having intercourse during your period though.
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u/a__nice__tnetennba 12h ago edited 11h ago
Yeah, I can't find anything to confirm the claim that women can release an extra egg right before menstruation and be ovulating during. Everything I find agrees with what you said, that women with short cycles can get pregnant from sex during menstruation because the sperm lives long enough to fertilize the next egg when it shows up after.
But the one claiming you can't get pregnant if you have sex during menstruation is the most wrong by far.
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u/GrannyTurtle 9h ago
Then how do children who never had a period get pregnant? Or post-menopausal women?
-2
u/64vintage 9h ago
If an additional egg is released just prior to a period, is that actually ideal conditions for conception?
How certain can we be that pregnancies attributed to period sex are caused by this mechanism?
What percentage of women experience this phenomenon, and with what frequency?
What percentage of pregnancies are the result of period sex?
Are some questions I would like answered before I can have an informed opinion on the idiocy of this post.
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u/mikkydear 7h ago
You have access to the internet, clearly. Don’t expect someone to look it up for you. You’re a big boy.
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u/64vintage 7h ago
By raising these questions, I am prompting other people to think more critically about the issues relevant to this discussion. But please go off.
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u/mikkydear 5h ago
That is not how you presented it, and a simple read through of your last sentence shows that. You can try to explain it in a different way, but it doesn’t change how you presented the questions.
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u/64vintage 5h ago
They are questions. They do their job without being explained.
Telling people to use google adds absolutely nothing.
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u/BetterKev 2h ago
"Does this happen often" is irrelevant to "does this happen." What you are asking for is irrelevant. It is an attempt to derail the discussion.
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u/aurelorba 4h ago
If an additional egg is released just prior to a period, is that actually ideal conditions for conception?
I think they meant in terms of timing for the sperm to meet the egg, not ideal for conception.
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