Having sex during your period is a tricky situation. Not everyone is comfortable with the mechanics or mess of it yet many couples believe that this may be the only time to have unprotected sex without getting pregnant. But is that true?

Period Calculator: Is Your Period Late?

The gist: Isn’t menstrual period sex safe?

You already have your period so how can you possibly get pregnant now? If your partner is ok with it, isn’t this a good time to forgo condoms and enjoy sex without any constraints? Without fear of getting pregnant? 

This is not necessarily true. While is it true that having sex during your period is safe from a health point of view and there is no harm at all to a man encountering menstrual blood (that notion comes from cultural taboo and old wives’ tales), there are other safety concerns.

First of all, condoms protect against sexually transmitted diseases, so if you don’t know have a long-term partner and know for sure that he tested negative for all STD’s, you must use condoms. 

The controversy: Getting pregnant from sex during your period?

Menstrual cycles differ. Ovulation changes. Sperm can last inside your uterus for up to five to six days, so if you have a very short menstrual cycle, that usually means ovulation and your fertility happen closer to your period, so there is a distinct possibility that if you have unprotected sex during your period, the sperm left inside you can live and impregnate you when you ovulate days after your period ends. Sperm are very capable and have one mission: meeting the egg. They can swim through menstrual blood upwards to the fallopian tubes to accomplish the journey.

It is false that sex during your period will ensure that a pregnancy does not occur. You can get pregnant if you have sex within 5-6 days before you ovulate, so if you ovulate within 5-6 days after you have sex, then you are in your fertile window and you can get pregnant because sperm can survive for 5-6 days. Your fertile window starts 5-6 days before ovulation, and any of these days having unprotected sex can get you pregnant.

Calculate your fertile window!

To sum it up: Be careful

Yes, you are free to enjoy sex at any time during your menstrual cycle, but unless you are trying to conceive and your partner is STD free, there is no safe time to have unprotected sex. Periods change from month to month. Ovulation can happen during any day of your menstrual cycle.  The day of ovulation can change according to physical and mental stress, health conditions, and some say even time of year. Find a good birth control method with your doctor and stick to it for your health and well-being every day of the month.

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