Thinking you need to have sex all the time when trying to conceive is a common misconception. Here’s how often you should have sex, plus the lowdown on whether having sex twice a day during ovulation increases your chances of getting pregnant.
Thinking you need to have sex all the time when trying to conceive is a common misconception. Here’s how often you should have sex, plus the lowdown on whether having sex twice a day during ovulation increases your chances of getting pregnant.
Trying to conceive can be an exciting time—and a stressful one.
It can feel overwhelming to figure out how often and when you should have sex to optimize your chances of conceiving. You may know you need to have sex during ovulation, but what days exactly? How many times? Should you have sex twice a day during ovulation?
That’s why we’ve broken it down for you. Here’s a look at everything you need to know about sex and ovulation, including how often you should have sex when trying to conceive, whether you should have twice a day during ovulation, and whether you actually need to have sex on the day you ovulate at all.
What is ovulation?
Ovulation is the moment around the midpoint of your cycle when your ovaries release a mature egg.
After the egg is released, it stays in the fallopian tubes for around 12 to 24 hours (meaning ovulation lasts about one day in total). If the egg meets up with sperm during that time, it can be fertilized and become a pregnancy.
Otherwise, the egg reaches the end of its viability and disintegrates, and you’ll get your period a couple weeks later at the start of a new cycle.
Ovulation and conception
Ovulation is the key to conceiving. Ovulation provides the egg that, with a little luck and planning, can get fertilized by sperm and form a pregnancy.
If you’re trying to conceive (TTC), this means that you need to have sex around ovulation in order to get pregnant.
But before you can determine how often you need to have sex around ovulation, you first need to track your ovulation and determine when you’re ovulating. There are a few ways to do this.
For starters, you can pay attention to the physical signs of ovulation that your body sends you, such as:
- Changes in cervical mucus
- Changes in cervix and cervical position
- Breast tenderness
- Elevated basal body temperature (BBT)
- Mild cramping in the pelvis or abdomen
- Increased sex drive
- Mood changes
- Bloating
- Ovulation bleeding
These signs of ovulation are useful, but sometimes understanding your body calls for more support—particularly if you have irregular cycles.
That’s where ovulation prediction kits like the Oova at-home fertility kit come in: to help you track your ovulation by quickly and easily testing your hormone levels.
The Oova kit measures your unique hormones so you can know when you’re ovulating and time sex around when you’re most fertile. That way, you have the best chances of conceiving in a given cycle.
How often should you have sex during ovulation?
It’s common to think you need to have sex all the time when you’re TTC, but that’s not actually the case.
In reality, you only need to have sex during your fertile window, a time in your cycle centered around ovulation.
The fertile window is the six-day period each cycle when you’re most fertile, corresponding to the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation.
That’s because sperm can live in the reproductive tract for up to five days post-ejaculation. Add that to the day of ovulation, and that gives you six days total each cycle when sperm can meet up with an egg.
Now, back to you and what this means for your fertility journey. How often should you have sex to get pregnant?
Experts suggest you should have sex every other day or every day during your fertile window. Anything more frequent than that is extra, and up to your personal preferences.
Should you have sex twice a day during ovulation?
When you’re TTC, it’s important to have sex when you’re most fertile.
To optimize your chances of conceiving, you should have sex every other day or every day during your fertile window, around ovulation.
You may be wondering if having sex more often than that can boost your chances of conceiving. Like, should you have sex twice a day during your fertile window? Or even, should you have sex twice a day during ovulation?
The answer is no—it’s not necessary to have sex twice a day during ovulation.
Of course, if you and your partner want to have sex that often, go for it! It won’t hurt your chances of conceiving, either.
But you shouldn’t feel obligated to have sex twice a day during ovulation. Having sex every other day or every day during your fertile window is all that’s needed, and anything more doesn’t increase your chances of conceiving.
If sex starts feeling like a stressful chore, your fertility journey may become a more unpleasant experience than it needs to be. Instead, try to focus on connecting with your partner as the two of you grow your family, and you’ll find the rhythm that’s right for you.
Do you need to have sex when you’re ovulating to get pregnant?
As we know, ovulation only lasts about one day.
But the good news is, you have more than just one day to conceive each cycle: you can get pregnant at any point during your six-day fertile window!
In fact, as surprising as it may sound, you don’t even need to have sex on the exact day that you ovulate. You can actually get pregnant without having sex during ovulation.
Remember: sperm can live in the reproductive tract for five days post-ejaculation. If you have sex a day or two before you ovulate, the egg you release may meet up with sperm still hanging around from the couple days prior. (And this is perfectly normal and safe!)
While you absolutely can have sex on the day you ovulate, it won’t make you more likely to conceive. As long as you have sex regularly around the day of ovulation—that is, during your fertile window—you’re doing all you should to conceive that cycle.
Should you have sex twice a day during ovulation? The bottom line
When you’re TTC, you should have sex every other day or every day during your fertile window.
That means that you don’t need to have sex twice a day during ovulation, or any other day in your fertile window. In fact, you don’t actually need to have sex on the day you ovulate, at all.
If having sex every other day around ovulation sounds right to you, great! If you want to have sex every day or multiple times a day, great! Either way, your chances of conceiving are the same.
As long as you have sex regularly during your fertile window, you’re doing all you can to get pregnant each cycle. That means you and your partner should go with whatever feels right and good for you.
About the author
Sources
- Sung S & Abramovitz A. (2022). Natural Family Planning.
- Witt B (ACOG). (2023). Trying to Get Pregnant? Here’s When to Have Sex.
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