Can you get pregnant when you’re not ovulating?

Ovulation is the time in your menstrual cycle when your body releases an egg, making it the most important time of the month if you’re hoping to get pregnant. But the day you ovulate isn’t your only chance to get pregnant in a cycle. Here, Dr. Sara Twogood, obstetrician and gynecologist, Cedars-Sinai Medical Group, California, US, helps to explain why — and how to predict when you have the best odds of conceiving.

Key takeaways

• Ovulation only happens once per menstrual cycle, but your chances of getting pregnant aren’t limited to the day of ovulation.
• The egg can survive for up to 24 hours, and sperm can live in your body for up to five days, giving you around six days in each cycle when it’s possible to get pregnant from unprotected sex.
• Pregnancy can’t happen in a cycle where you don’t ovulate (anovulation), but lots of women and people with periods skip ovulation occasionally — it doesn’t mean you can’t conceive at all.
• It’s always a good idea to see your doctor if you have any worries about your cycle or trying to conceive. 
• Tracking your cycle with an app like Flo can give you useful information about your patterns and can help you understand your body’s signs that you’re fertile.

Can you only get pregnant during ovulation?

When you’re trying to conceive (TTC), it’s important to understand your fertile window, or the time of the month when you’re most likely to get pregnant. But if it feels like a while since your sex education classes, you might be wondering if your only chance of getting pregnant is on the day of ovulation. The short answer is no — you’re not limited to ovulation day itself. In fact, it’s possible to conceive before, on, or shortly after the moment your body releases an egg.

Here’s why: Once a mature egg has been released from your ovary, it stays in your uterine (fallopian) tube for 12 to 24 hours, ready to be fertilized. Sperm can live in your body for up to five days, so in theory you could have sex several days before you ovulate, leaving sperm ready and waiting inside you to fertilize your egg as soon as it’s released. That means your fertile window is considered open for around six days each cycle in total.

The tricky part is figuring out exactly when that is. It was once thought that the average fertile window was between days 10 and 17 of a typical 28-day cycle, with ovulation usually happening on day 14 or 15. But experts now know that in reality, both cycle length and ovulation day can change a lot from person to person, and even from cycle to cycle.

“Even if your cycles are regular, the timing of ovulation can fluctuate slightly from month to month,” points out Dr. Twogood. “So you could get pregnant outside your expected fertile window because ovulation may take place earlier or later than you estimated.”

That’s why getting to know your own cycle can be helpful. An ovulation-tracking app like Flo can help you become familiar with your body’s fertility signals, and you’ll find other ways to track ovulation below.

Can you get pregnant if you don’t ovulate at all during your cycle?

If you don’t ovulate — known as anovulation — there’s no egg waiting to be fertilized, so pregnancy can’t happen. The biggest clue that you haven’t ovulated is that your period doesn’t turn up. Why are periods and ovulation so closely linked? After you ovulate, your body releases the hormone progesterone, which prepares the lining of your uterus for a potential pregnancy. If you don’t conceive, your progesterone levels fall, and your uterine lining sheds. That’s what you know to be your period. No ovulation means no rise in progesterone, resulting in a late or missing period.

If you think you haven’t ovulated but you’re TTC, it’s completely natural that you might feel a little worried or frustrated. But it may be reassuring to know that lots of us have occasional cycles without ovulating, and there’s no evidence that it affects your overall chance of getting pregnant — or how long it takes to conceive. 

You can skip ovulation every now and then for a few different “life” reasons, says Dr. Twogood: “Basically, anything your body interprets as a stressor can disrupt [ovulation], including illness or being under a lot of pressure. Plus things that may not actually feel stressful to you, like going on vacation. A change in routine can knock out your cycle.” 

The reason? “We ovulate to procreate, so if your body’s getting signals that this isn’t a good time for pregnancy, ovulation can be delayed or skipped, and your period may not arrive when you expect it,” she explains. “If that happens once or twice in a year, it’s not usually concerning. Carry on monitoring so you can see whether your cycle returns to its usual pattern.”

But, Dr. Twogood says, “If you have two or three irregular cycles in a row, or within a short period of time, or you have other symptoms that are unusual for you, see your doctor.” They can look at what’s going on in your body and check for conditions that may be affecting ovulation, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Remember that if you’ve previously been on hormonal contraception, it can take a little while for ovulation to start up again.

If you’ve been trying to get pregnant for a while and it’s not happened for you, it’s worth seeing a health care professional to get some support. If you’re under 35 and have been trying to conceive for a year, schedule an appointment. If you’re over 35, go after six months, and if you’re 40, it’s best to be seen right away.

What are your chances of getting pregnant if you’re not ovulating?

As we now know, if you haven’t ovulated at all in your cycle, there’s no chance of pregnancy. Have a chat with your doctor if you’re concerned about your own ovulation or cycles.

Otherwise, here’s a guide to the average chance of getting pregnant at different times in your cycle: 

Days before and after ovulation

As a quick recap: An egg lives 12 to 24 hours following ovulation, but sperm can live in the female reproductive system for up to five days after sex. So, you’re potentially fertile for about six days around ovulation. According to research:

• One day before ovulation is when you’re most likely to conceive. The study found that women who have unprotected sex the day before they ovulate have around a 42% chance of pregnancy in that cycle. 
• Two days before ovulation, the odds are 33%.
• Three days before ovulation, you have a 27% chance of getting pregnant.
• The day you ovulate, the average chance of conceiving is 20%.
• One day after ovulation, it’s down to 8%.
• Two days after ovulation, there’s 0% chance of getting pregnant, because the egg will have been reabsorbed by your body by this point.

On your period

You’re unlikely to get pregnant during your period, but it is technically possible. For example, if you have a shorter menstrual cycle (around 21 to 24 days), you’ll ovulate earlier than average. If you have unprotected sex toward the end of your period and then go on to ovulate shortly after your period ends, sperm may still be waiting inside your body by the time your egg is released.

Right before your period

Having sex at this stage of your cycle is very unlikely to result in pregnancy. Although a menstrual cycle ranging between 21 and 35 days is considered normal, the average length is around 28 days. If your cycles fall around this length or longer, you probably ovulate at least one week before your period is due, making it unlikely that you could get pregnant immediately before your period. Because remember, you’re only fertile for the five days leading up to ovulation plus up to 24 hours once the egg has been released.

To get pregnant right before your period, you would have to have a short cycle and a very short period, which is why it’s not very common. 

Right after period

Again, this one depends on how your cycle works. If your periods are generally on the longer side (for example, around seven days — which is still within the bounds of what’s considered normal), then you’re likely to have less time until you ovulate. It means your fertile window could start just after your period ends, meaning that, yes, pregnancy is possible shortly after your period.

What we do know is that the timing of ovulation can be unpredictable, and everyone is different. That’s why experts suggest that when you’re trying to conceive, it’s best to have sex every two to three days throughout your cycle, or every other day during your fertile window if you can pinpoint when that is. That way, there should always be sperm waiting to fertilize the egg, whenever it’s released.

Know your fertile window

If you want to feel confident that you’re making the most of your fertile window, the best thing to do is to track your cycle, which an app like Flo can help make simpler. It also helps to get to know your body’s signs of ovulation:

• Your cervical mucus becomes clear and slippery for a few days. 
• Your cervix gets softer, higher, wetter, and more open (although most people don’t check how their cervix feels as the other signs of ovulation are generally easier to use).
• After ovulation, your temperature at rest rises very slightly (by around 0.5° to 1°F). If you track your basal body temperature regularly, you may be able to spot the rise. Over time, this may give you a better idea of your body’s ovulation patterns.

Using ovulation tests (which you can do at home by testing your urine) is another way to find out when you’re fertile. A positive result gives you a signal that you’re likely to ovulate in the next 24 hours.