How You Can Get Pregnantaccidentally Or Intentionallywithout Having Sex
Rachel Gurevich is a fertility advocate, author, and recipient of The Hope Award for Achievement, from Resolve: The National Infertility Association. She is a professional member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and has been writing about womens health since 2001. Rachel uses her own experiences with infertility to write compassionate, practical, and supportive articles.
Leyla Bilali, RN is a registered nurse, fertility nurse, and fertility consultant in the New York City area.
You can get pregnant without having sexual intercourse. While ideally, semen should be deposited as close to the cervix as possible to get pregnant , you can conceive as long as semen gets anywhere near the vagina or vaginal opening.
This may occur if a man ejaculates outside the vagina, or it can occur if semen gets on someone’s fingers and those fingers are placed near or inside the vagina. Pregnancy may also occur without ejaculation if the erect penis comes into contact with the vaginal area.
A small amount of semenjust a drop or twois excreted when a man gets an erection. This occurs before actual ejaculation and is sometimes called pre-ejaculate.
Note that you can’t get pregnant from a toilet seat, swimming in a public pool, using a hot tub, or bathing in any other body of water.
What Really Matters When Ttc
But all the fun sex and lounging in bed won’t do you any good if you haven’t done a little ovulation math. Ovulation is the time a woman’s body is able to conceive, so making sure you have a gauge on where you are in your cycle is your first step in getting pregnant. According to Mayo Clinic, there are four ways to know when you’re ovulating. To figure out when your body is dropping eggs you can track your period for a few months, examine your cervical mucus, track your basal body temperature, or use an ovulation predictor kit.
Ross suggests having sex every day for the next three days, because a positive test indicates youâre having your luteinizing hormone surge. Ross adds you could also have sex around days nine and 10 of your cycle , but then stop until you have a positive surge so the sperm is fresh, because it apparently tends to live in your body for a couple of days after ejaculation, and some experts believe your egg could drop right into where it needs to go at the right time, and theyâll be waiting.
So if you want to try the “rest and wait” tactic to keep the sperm in, by all means, kick back with a magazine and a glass of tea until you’re good and ready to get up. Just make sure youâre having sex during your fertile period and right before, during, or after ovulation.
Expert:
This article was originally published on July 19, 2016
Can I Freeze My Sperm At Home
Its not possible to successfully freeze sperm at home. Sperm freezing needs to happen in a laboratory with the proper quality controls in place. The temperature of an average home freezer is about minus 18 degrees centigrade. Sperm needs to be stored at minus 196 degrees centigrade.
It can be possible to collect sperm at home in preparation for freezing. There are services that send you a sperm collection and storage kit. You collect the sample at home, then overnight the kit to the lab for storage.
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How Do I Increase My Chances Of Getting Pregnant
One of the best ways to increase your chances of getting pregnant is knowing what days you ovulate , and planning vaginal sex or insemination around those days.
Everyones body is different, but ovulation usually happens about 14 days before your period starts. An egg lives for about 1 day after its released , and sperm can live in the body for about 6 days after sex. So people are usually fertile for around 7 days of every menstrual cycle: the 5 days before you ovulate, and the day you ovulate. You can also get pregnant a day or 2 after ovulation, but it’s less likely.
Some people have very regular cycles, and some peoples cycles vary from month to month. Many people track their menstrual cycles and other fertility signs to help them figure out when theyre ovulating. This is called fertility awareness some people use it to prevent pregnancy, and others use it to try to get pregnant.
You can use a fertility chart to keep track of your cycle and when youre most fertile . There are apps that can make it easy to chart your cycle and figure out your fertile days.
You can also use ovulation predictor kits urine tests that tell you when youre ovulating. You can buy ovulation predictor tests in the drugstore, usually near the pregnancy tests. Ovulation predictor tests look for a hormone called luteinizing hormone, which increases in your body right before you ovulate.
Finally The Two Week Wait
The two-week wait is the time between your ovulation and when menstruation begins. This can be an emotionally difficult time for women who are trying to conceive. During this period, many women struggle with stress and anxiety.
Testing before the right time can give you a false negative. The best option is to wait until your period is at least one day late.
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Check The Height Requirements Of Your Local Clinic
What Is Home Insemination
Home Insemination is a method of achieving pregnancy without intercourse. It involves using a needleless syringe or cervical cap to place the semen directly on the cervix. It is a popular alternative to other artificial insemination methods as it avoids large medical bills and allows you to be in the comfort and safety of your own home.
It is important to note that before deciding on any insemination method–especially DIY insemination–you should consult a fertility expert or other medical professional to ensure that it is right for you.
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Can You Time Intercourse To Choose The Sex Of Your Baby
Speaking of timing intercourse, some physicians have claimed that deliberately timing intercourse can determine the sex of the baby. The most famous proponent of such theories is probably an American obstetrician-gynecologist from the 1960s named Landrum B. Shettles, who claimed that timing intercourse to coincide with ovulation is key to conceiving a boy, as boy sperm are less robust than girl sperm.
Although you could probably find couples who say the Shettles method worked for them, the researchers behind the aforementioned study found no association between the sex of the baby and the timing of intercourse in relation to ovulation. There is still no conclusive evidence that you can time intercourse to choose the sex of your baby.
So, please dont skip sex to save up sperm. Sexual abstinence leads to more sperm in the ejaculate, but that sperm is older, less agile and less healthy. She doesnt need the most sperm from you, only the best. Another myth busted.
Award-winning urologist and mens health pioneer Dr. Paul Turek authors Turek on Mens Health, named one of Healthlines top mens health blogs and one of the Top 30 Mens Health Blogs . The blog covers the gamut of mens health issues, from infertility to hormones to vasectomy reversal.
Where Do You Freeze Your Sperm
A sperm bank, which sometimes is part of a fertility clinic.
However, there are home banking kits available as well for convenience and comfort.
“For those who are unable to come to the sperm bank, the option of providing a home sperm banking kit is available. The sample can be collected in the privacy of their home and shipped overnight to the laboratory for testing and freezing,” says Dr. Agarwal.
And a new at-home sperm banking fertility kit called Dadi recently hit the market, that offers fertility testing and sperm banking options.
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Ready To Get Cooking With The Turkey Baster Method
The ability to become pregnant can depend on a variety of factors, and the fertility treatments that are best for you will vary based on your situation. According to Mayo Clinic, IUI is most beneficial in cases of:
- Donor sperm
- Subfertility
- Cervical factor infertility
- Semen allergy
Often, when the reason for infertility is unknown, IUI is the first recommended treatment. IUI is no more uncomfortable than a pap smear, requiring no pain medications, and the procedure itself only takes a couple of minutes.
And This Includes Before Ivf Treatments
“Men with very low sperm counts may be encouraged to freeze sperm before IVF, in case their fresh ejaculate has no sperm in it on the day of their partner’s egg retrieval,” says Paula Brady, MD, reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Surgically extracted sperm is usually frozen for use in future assisted reproductive treatments.”
And men who plan to become fathers over 50 should also consider banking their sperm.
“Paternal age over 50 is associated with increased risk of autism and psychiatric disease such as schizophrenia in offspring, so men who anticipate delayed childbearing could consider banking sperm ,” says Dr. Brady.
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What Happens Before The Donor Insemination Process
The steps before the actual donor insemination will vary depending on your situation. For example, have you been trying to have a baby for a while, and this is your next step in fertility treatment? Or, are you just starting to consider building a family and donor insemination is your chosen path?
With this caveat in mind, heres what you might expect before your donor insemination cycle.
How Are Specimens Collected
Semen specimens are collected on-site at the Cleveland Clinic Andrology Laboratory in a private collection room. You may also choose to collect a semen sample in the privacy of your home using our NextGen® home sperm banking program. Specimens are shipped in a specially designed preservation container to the Andrology Laboratory for testing and freezing. You will need a referral from your physician for this service.
For more information, call the Andrology Laboratory at 866.9BANKIN .
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What Is Freezing Sperm
- A man providing a semen sample
- The lab analyzing the sperm for adequacy
- The lab freezing the sperm for later use
When a man decides to preserve his sperm, he can typically provide a sample by ejaculating via masturbation into a sterile sample cup. If no sperm are present in the semen or he cannot bring himself to ejaculation, a surgical sperm extraction may be used to remove sperm directly from the testicle.
The sperm sample is then frozen by a slow-cooling method or by vitrification, a flash-freezing process in which sperm are bathed in a cryoprotectant and quickly frozen to about minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit. The frozen sperm is stored at a fertility clinic or sperm bank until it is ready to be used for intrauterine insemination or IVF.
Thawing frozen sperm:
Cryopreservation provides longevity for an indefinite amount of time. Once sperm is frozen, all biological activity stops, preventing cell growth or death.
Sperm is typically frozen for long periods. The man can choose to keep his sperm frozen, use the sperm or discard the sperm. The typical yearly cost to store frozen sperm is $220-500.
Health Is A Top Priority
For the same reason that people in the army opt to freeze their eggs or sperm before being deployed to war zones, now people working on the frontlines – such as healthcare workers and grocery store clerks – are faced with an immediate, tangible threat to their health and fear the impact it may have on their future fertility.
And while in good times people under 45 spend money on experiences like travel and eating out, now that those things aren’t even possible , some dollars earmarked for other things are now being funnelled into health.
A health crisis puts many things into perspective. It makes people consider the rest of their lives and what it is that really matters to them.
“Given the stay-at-home restrictions worldwide, this pandemic may even be a boost for human fertility,” says Dr. Turek. “Leading to a whole new batch of next-gen âcoronials!â
And even if someone doesn’t want kids any time soon, they may want to secure the option for the future, and feel that’s worth the investment.
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Does Using Cryopreserved Sperm Increase The Risk Of Birth Defects
No. Among thousands of children who have been conceived with frozen sperm, the incidence of birth defects has been no different than that among children conceived through sexual intercourse.
Cryopreservation keeps your sperm healthy and viable. Babies conceived using cryopreserved sperm are just as healthy as those conceived naturally. There is no increased risk for birth defects when frozen sperm are used.
How Much Does It Cost
According to the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, IUI can cost anywhere from $460 to $1,500. This cost doesnt include prices for fertility medications.
However, there may be other costs prior to the insemination itself. This can include consultation, semen testing, and ultrasound monitoring.
Sometimes, an insurance company will cover a portion of the costs related to artificial insemination. IUI tends to be more expensive than ICI because:
- its more invasive
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Home Insemination With A Sperm Donor
If you are thinking about doing at-home insemination, it is pretty likely that you are planning on using a sperm donor. Luckily, home insemination with fresh sperm is virtually the same whether or not you are using a donor. Simply draw the sperm out of the tube directly with the syringe.
If you are using frozen sperm, the process is also very similar once the sperm has been thawed. Make sure to contact the sperm bank to ensure that you know how to correctly thaw the sperm.
How Many Samples Should I Freeze
We recommend freezing a minimum of two samples for storage before you have surgery and/or therapy. However, its your choice for how many samples you will freeze.
During your initial consultation, you should discuss your future goals and make a plan based on any medical treatments youre having and what you will need in the future, like how many children you hope to have. The number of samples needed for storage is different for each person. How many samples you may need in the future will also depend on the quality of your sperm after its thawed.
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Maintain A Balanced Diet
Eat a healthy, balanced diet and be sure to stay hydrated. Consume a lot of good-quality fat and protein and stay away from sugars and junk food.
This one is important for both men and women. When you are trying to conceive, it is important to watch your waistline and eat a balanced diet.
People who are obese may have more trouble conceiving than those who are a healthy weight. And, the same holds true for people who are under weight. When you are trying to conceive, try to get as close to a healthy weight as possible.
Doctors Drug Test Black And Poor Families At Higher Rates Risking Family Separation
Ericka Brewingtons youngest child, a boy, was born on August 27, 2017, and it should have been a day of joy for her and her family. But instead of receiving the rest and celebration all new parents deserve, she was separated from her newborn infant. It was not due to an act of abuse or neglect on her part it was the result of a drug test performed on her infant without her knowledge.
I was given a stack of papers, and I remember on a couple pieces of paper the words were blurry, this is how much copying was going on. They just said, its a normal consent form if something happens to you and the baby, if the babys heart stops beating or yours, do you want us to save you? Of course I do, so I signed the form, a bunch of forms.
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Wearing Briefs Or Tight Pants
Underwear or any clothing that hugs the scrotal sac close to the body is not recommended. The ideal temperature for sperm production is a few degrees lower than body temperature, which is why the testicles sit where they do, says Baratz. When theyre held too close to the body, the testicles cant regulate temperature to allow for healthy sperm production.
How About Just Putting Sperm Into Your Vagina
Another option for getting yourself pregnant is at-home insemination. There are some benefits of at-home insemination, including:
- You can be in the privacy and comfort of your own home.
- Its less expensive.
- Its done with the help of a practitioner, such as a midwife.
In an at-home procedure, the practitioner uses a needleless syringe to insert semen into your vagina . You can also buy at-home insemination kits. They come with containers for semen and syringes to insert it into the vagina. Although the procedure may seem simple, it might take several attempts before youre able to do it successfully.
Its important to know that at-home inseminations arent as regulated as inseminations performed in a medical office. A home environment can increase the risk of infection, while a clinical environment is a more sterile option. For this reason, its important to thoroughly educate yourself about the procedure and discuss it with the person performing the insemination.
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