Question: can you get pregnant if you have sexual intercourse while having your period?

Vera Weisbecker answered on 20 Jun 2011:

Ok, I guess this is more sex ed but since the question made it past the moderators I hope no one will mind if I respond anyway…with a big disclaimer that I’m not a health professional so for 100% reliable advice you have to talk to someone else!

If it is a real period, it is not impossible but very unlikely to get pregnant. Your body works in cycles, so after you have a period, your body prepares for release of your next egg into the uterus from one of your ovaries. Roughly (VERY roughly!) after two weeks, your next egg is released (ovulation). This is the most risky or promising time for getting pregnant, depending on what you are planning :-). The egg only stays in a fertilizeable state for a few days – essentially, the risky window is around 3 days before and after ovulation. Then the egg dies, but your body only “finds this out” about 1.5-2 weeks afterwards. Once the signal has been received that your egg hasn’t been fertilized, your body sheds the egg and the lining inside the uterus and washes it all out, along with a bit of blood. This is why during your period you can’t normally get pregnant. HOWEVER, it is possible for people to ovulate “out of rhythm” and if this happens during a period, you can get pregnant.