Can I get pregnant two days before my period?

Last updated on October 21, 2020

Question:

Can I get pregnant two days before my period?

Answer:

The optimal time to get pregnant is two weeks (fourteen days) before your next period. That is the day you release an egg. For conception to take place, that egg must meet up with sperm within 24 hours of its release. In addition, a man’s sperm is able to survive up to six days in a woman’s body.

The problem is that a woman cannot positively state when her next period will take place. Even a woman who has a very regular cycle will experience a “hiccup” once in a while. Your cycle can be as short as fourteen days or as long thirty-six days.

Let’s assume that you normally have a twenty-eight-day cycle. You fooled around and committed fornication on day twenty-six, but unknown to you, your next cycle will be extremely short — only 17 days. That would mean the optimal day for conceiving would be three days after your period began. But you had sex five days before the optimal time; thus some of his sperm could still be swimming around in you and you could end up pregnant.

There are days in your cycle where it is less likely that you will end up pregnant, but there is no day when it can be guaranteed that you can’t get pregnant. The only way to guarantee not becoming pregnant is to not have sex.