If you ask any doctor, he or she will tell you that coming into contact with a vagina does not make you pregnant. The thing is, it can be quite hard to talk to your doctor about such matters — especially without blushing! So this article is my attempt to clear up some common myths regarding whether or not pregnancy can occur by finger-to-vagina contact.
There are many myths about what does or does not cause pregnancy.
Myth: You can’t get pregnant while breastfeeding.
Truth: Breastfeeding doesn’t prevent you from getting pregnant. In fact, it’s possible to get pregnant while breastfeeding. The hormone prolactin (the same one that helps produce breast milk) causes a woman’s cervical mucus to thicken up and become more acidic. This makes it harder for sperm to get through the cervix and reach the fallopian tubes, which increases the odds of preventing pregnancy. But if a woman has unprotected sex during this time, there is still a chance that she could become pregnant – even though her periods may stop or become irregular.
Myth: Women who use birth control pills don’t need to worry about STDs because they’re protected by the pill.
Truth: Birth control pills do not protect against STDs, including HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B or C, genital herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. Some antibiotics can make oral birth control less effective as well. If you are taking antibiotics and using oral birth control pills at the same time, be sure to use a condom or another method of protection as well until both medications have been out of your system for at least seven days after finishing your antibiotic treatment course.
You can’t become pregnant without sperm.
You can’t become pregnant without sperm.
It’s true that some women with Turner’s syndrome can have periods and even babies without ovaries or eggs. But they are the exception, not the rule.
Women with Turner’s syndrome are missing one of their two X chromosomes — making them “XO” instead of “XX.” And it’s those XX chromosomes that make us female — they determine whether we have ovaries and fallopian tubes, or testes and male plumbing.
There are other ways to be born without a Y chromosome: If your mom was exposed to radiation when she was pregnant with you, say from an atomic bomb blast, she may have given birth to an XXY baby. These kids usually have extra-long arms and legs (and sometimes webbed fingers), but otherwise seem normal — until puberty hits, when they start growing pubic hair and boys’ voices. They also tend to be taller than average because their pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough growth hormone.
Some women with Turner’s syndrome never learn about their condition until it’s too late for them to bear children — after years of thinking they’re infertile but having no idea why not.
Sperm needs to get inside your vagina.
Sperm needs to get inside your vagina. That’s where it can meet with an egg and fertilize it, if that’s what you want.
But sperm can live outside the body for up to five days, so you need to protect yourself from getting pregnant during that time.
Sperm can be present in pre-cum, too. So if he doesn’t pull out before ejaculation, it’s possible you could get pregnant even if he doesn’t ejaculate inside of you.
Condoms are the best way to prevent pregnancy, but they aren’t 100 percent effective. The only foolproof way to prevent pregnancy is to not have sex at all — or at least avoid having vaginal intercourse when you’re fertile (which is every month until menopause).
It’s possible for sperm to reach an egg from up to 6 feet away, but only if it’s in a very specific environment.
It’s possible for sperm to reach an egg from up to 6 feet away, but only if it’s in a very specific environment.
The lining of the vagina is full of tiny “finger-like” projections called cilia, which help move the sperm along toward the fallopian tubes. It’s also lined with secretions that maintain a certain acidity level and protect against infection. If anything reduces the acidity or changes its chemical composition, it can cause problems for sperm.
That might be why some women have more trouble getting pregnant than others. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that women who had taken oral contraceptives were three times more likely than non-pill takers to take longer than 12 months to become pregnant.
It’s possible for sperm to reach an egg from up to 6 feet away if it’s in a very specific environment..
It’s impossible for sperm that’s outside of your body to travel up your vagina, through your cervix and uterus, and into your fallopian tubes where an egg is released and fertilized.
The only way a woman can get pregnant is by having sex with a man whose semen makes its way through her reproductive tract, and into her cervix. From there it can travel through the uterus and into the fallopian tubes, where it can fertilize an egg released from one of the ovaries.
It’s impossible for sperm that’s outside of your body to travel up your vagina, through your cervix and uterus, and into your fallopian tubes where an egg is released and fertilized.
“To reach the fallopian tube,” says Dr. Leah Millheiser, director of Stanford University’s female sexual medicine program and co-director of the university’s male fertility clinic, “the sperm would have to travel through the uterus into the fallopian tube — something it is physically incapable of doing.”
You can’t get pregnant without sperm reaching an egg.
You can’t get pregnant without sperm reaching an egg.
It’s a common misconception that you can get pregnant if you have sexual intercourse during your period. But the truth is, sperm and eggs don’t even meet until after ovulation has occurred.
You can’t get pregnant without an egg being released, which happens about two weeks before your period begins. And even if your menstrual cycle is irregular, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get pregnant at all — it just means that if you do ovulate early, you’re more likely to have an early miscarriage than a healthy pregnancy.
So if you want to avoid pregnancy, don’t have sex at all (or use condoms) when you’re fertile: about six days before ovulation until two days after it occurs.
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