Ovulation quiz: How much do you know about your cycle and fertility?

Mostly, we characterize our menstrual cycles by the arrival of a period. But there’s another big event that takes place in the cycle: ovulation.

Whether you’re trying to get pregnant or you’d rather avoid it, it’s good to understand what ovulation is, when it’s likely to happen, and how it relates to your fertile window. So … ready to test your knowledge? Take Flo’s ovulation quiz to see how much you know about the ins and outs of ovulation and where there are knowledge gaps you can fill. Because knowledge is power, remember. Good luck!

Disclaimer: This quiz is designed to help you learn more about ovulation, but it is for educational purposes only. While this quiz may help you learn more about your most fertile days, you should not use this information alone to prevent pregnancy. Menstrual periods are different from person to person and month to month, and ovulation can vary.

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{"showCounter":false,"counterAnswers":"","correctTitle":"Correct Answer","noCorrectTitle":"Not really","allIDCorrect":false,"questions":[{"question":0,"correctAnswer":1,"answerDescription":"The exact day of ovulation varies from person to person (and even from cycle to cycle), but on average, it happens around the middle of your cycle. The average person\u2019s cycle lasts 28 days, but it can range anywhere from 21 to 35 days and still be considered \u201cnormal.\u201d  So if you have a 28-day menstrual cycle, you can expect ovulation to occur around the 14th day.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":1,"correctAnswer":0,"answerDescription":"A mature egg cell, also known as an oocyte (for the fact fans out there), is among the largest cells in the human body, being 0.1 mm in diameter. Sounds tiny, right? In fact, it\u2019s one of the only human cells that is just about visible to the naked eye. And when you compare it to the size of sperm, you\u2019ll get a better idea of what we mean; sperm cells tend to be somewhere between 0.0000037 mm and 0.0000047 mm in length. Now that\u2019s <\/i>tiny.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":2,"correctAnswer":0,"answerDescription":"Levels of luteinizing hormone, also known as LH, fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, rising sharply just before you ovulate and dropping once the egg has been released. Typically, the LH surge will come around 24 to 48 hours prior to ovulation. This is what an at-home ovulation test searches for when you dip it in urine.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":3,"correctAnswer":3,"answerDescription":"While all of the female reproductive organs listed above are used in the process of conception, it\u2019s the ovaries that release the egg each cycle. Eggs that are still developing live inside little sacs of fluid in the ovaries called follicles. Once matured, one egg (or, very occasionally, more than one) is released from the ovary and travels down the uterine tube.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":4,"correctAnswer":1,"answerDescription":"Once it\u2019s released from the ovary, an egg moves down the uterine tube, where it waits to be fertilized. The egg can stay there for anywhere between 12 and 24 hours. After this time, if the egg isn\u2019t fertilized, it disintegrates.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":5,"correctAnswer":3,"answerDescription":"When someone doesn\u2019t ovulate, it\u2019s called anovulation, and this can happen for a number of reasons. Some such reasons include approaching menopause (when your periods stop due to declining hormone levels), having PCOS (a condition that affects how the ovaries work), and hypothalamic dysfunction (where the hormones required for ovulation are disrupted due to excess stress, extremely high or low body weight, dramatic weight gain or loss, or medical conditions). If you believe you\u2019re not ovulating, reach out to your doctor to start exploring why.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":6,"correctAnswer":2,"answerDescription":"Throughout most of the cycle, healthy cervical mucus (or discharge) is thick, white, and dry. But when you become fertile, shortly before and around the time of ovulation, it becomes transparent and stretchy \u2014 just like raw egg whites. The reason the mucus takes on this consistency is to help sperm swim more easily up through the vagina, the cervix, and the uterus to where the egg is waiting in the uterine tubes.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":7,"correctAnswer":3,"answerDescription":"One of the most interesting facts about female fertility is that it\u2019s thought all your eggs are created while you\u2019re still in the womb. Unlike men, who continue to produce sperm throughout their lives, a woman is believed to be born with all the eggs she\u2019ll ever have \u2014 somewhere between 1 and 2 million of them. Thousands of eggs die each month as you grow up, so by the time you reach puberty and later start ovulating, you\u2019ll have around 300,000 eggs left.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":8,"correctAnswer":2,"answerDescription":"It\u2019s easy to assume you\u2019re only fertile for the very brief window of time in which you\u2019ve released an egg. However, your fertile window actually lasts for around 7 days: the day of ovulation itself, up to a day afterward, plus the 5 days beforehand. That\u2019s because sperm can survive inside the uterus for up to 5 days. So if you have sex in the lead-up to ovulating, sperm can stick around and be in with a chance of fertilizing the egg when it\u2019s eventually released. While this whole time period is known as your fertile window because it\u2019s possible to conceive, your chances of pregnancy will generally increase as you approach the day of ovulation.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":9,"correctAnswer":0,"answerDescription":"Lots of women and people who ovulate report experiencing ovulation pain, so much so it\u2019s even got a name. The word mittelschmerz is German for \u201cmiddle pain\u201d or \u201cpain in the middle of the month,\u201d and it\u2019s often used to describe pain associated with ovulation. Not everyone who ovulates will experience this, however, and the feeling can vary greatly between individuals and even between menstrual cycles. Sometimes it can be a dull cramp, while other times, it might be a sharp or sudden twinge in your abdomen. Usually, it\u2019s only noticed on one side, depending on which ovary has released an egg.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":10,"correctAnswer":2,"answerDescription":"Ovulation causes a very slight (around half a degree) increase in basal body temperature (BBT), and some people like to track this to determine when they\u2019re ovulating. However, doctors tend to say that tracking your BBT can be tricky whether you\u2019re trying to conceive or you\u2019d rather prevent pregnancy. This is because it\u2019s generally more useful for telling you that you ovulated after<\/i> it happened (by which point, you may have missed your fertile window or inadvertently already conceived). But if you do want to monitor your daily temperature for conception purposes, you need to do this consistently over several weeks, and at the same time each day, to spot a slight rise. It\u2019s also useful to note that other factors can affect your temperature, including illness, stress, alcohol, certain medications, and interrupted sleep cycles, so this isn\u2019t always a foolproof way to know you\u2019ve ovulated.<\/span><\/p>"},{"question":11,"correctAnswer":1,"answerDescription":"A young, healthy couple has around a 20% chance of getting pregnant every time ovulation happens, so you shouldn\u2019t get disheartened if it doesn\u2019t happen for you immediately. After 3 cycles of trying, 45% of couples will have conceived, 65% after six, and 85% after 12 cycles. Fertility in women is believed to start steadily declining from the age of around 35. This doesn\u2019t mean you won\u2019t conceive if you\u2019re slightly older \u2014 far from it \u2014 it just means the chances of getting pregnant each month gradually decline. By the age of 40, you have around a 10% chance each month.<\/span><\/p>"}]}

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