Last updated on October 21, 2020
Question:
Hi!
My question is: How long does it take for sperm to travel to your uterus, 3 days or a week? For example, if a baby was born on December 22, 2005, when was he conceived, that same day or a week before or a week prior?
Answer:
It takes nine months for a baby to develop in the womb before he is born. So a child born on December 22, 2005, was conceived roughly nine months prior — that is, in March.
But your actual question is how long does it take between sex and conception. Conception is when the sperm unites with an egg to form a child. A woman typically releases one egg per month. For a child to be conceived, sperm from the husband must meet up with the egg during the first 24-hours after the egg is released from the ovaries. Beyond 24-hours conception cannot take place. From the time of sex, it takes sperm as little as 20 minutes to reach the fallopian tubes where the egg travels toward the uterus. However, sex does not have to take place on the day the egg is released. A man’s sperm is able to survive up to six days in a woman’s uterus. So if sex takes place within six days before an egg being released, then there will be sperm waiting to meet the egg when it is released.