

This is most true after age 35, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. As she gets older, the quality of her eggs diminishes. A woman is born with the number of eggs she will have throughout her lifetime. Some women have medical conditions that prevent them from ovulating altogether.Ī woman must also release an egg healthy enough for fertilization. First, a woman must release a healthy egg. Conception-related concernsĬonception requires several steps to come together. This increases the chances that sperm will be present in the fallopian tube to fertilize the egg once it’s released. Most doctors usually recommend having unprotected sex starting about three to six days before you ovulate, as well as the day you ovulate if you wish to become pregnant. Or, if a woman has sex during the time the egg has been released, the sperm could fertilize the just-released egg.Ĭonception comes down to timing, the health of a woman’s reproductive tract, and the quality of a man’s sperm. Therefore, when the ovary releases the egg, sperm that are already present from intercourse a few days before could fertilize it. However, sperm can live for several days in a woman’s body. Usually, an egg has about 12 to 24 hours where it can be fertilized by sperm. If there’s sperm present in a woman’s fallopian tube when this happens, the sperm could fertilize the egg. This would fall around day 14 in a 28-day cycle, but it’s important to remember that even normal cycle lengths can vary.ĭuring ovulation, one of the ovaries releases an egg, which then travels down one of the fallopian tubes.

Ovulation usually occurs around the midpoint of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Doctors consider day 1 of a menstrual cycle the first day of a woman’s period. If the father also provides an X chromosome, the baby will be a girl.Conception occurs during the part of a woman’s menstrual cycle called ovulation.

Because the mother is only able to provide an X chromosome, the father must provide a Y chromosome if the baby is going to be a boy. It is at this moment that the genetic makeup of the baby is determined, including the sex. After the sperm enters the egg, the coating around the egg is altered to keep other sperm from also penetrating the egg. What happens during fertilization?įor fertilization to occur sperm must first be introduced to the egg and must then penetrate the egg. If you don't ovulate, you can't get pregnant. For about twenty-four hours after ovulation, the egg can be fertilized.įinding out when and if you ovulate is one of the most important factors when trying to get pregnant. This is ovulation and it typically occurs approximately two weeks prior to your menstrual period. Eventually, the follicle matures and releases the egg from the ovary. Usually one of these follicles will begin to mature and the others will stop growing and eventually degenerate.

That is usually the day when most people consider pregnancy to begin What happens during ovulation?Įvery month, one of your ovaries has immature eggs that begin to develop in what are called follicles. Finally, implantation is when the embryo attaches to the uterus, which is the day of conception. Fertilization occurs when the sperm penetrates the egg. Ovulation is the first step, the ejection of a mature egg from the ovary. There are three primary steps in a pregnancy: ovulation, fertilization, and conception/ implantation.
