Pregnancy: The Basics
Pregnancy begins when a man’s sperm and a woman’s egg meet and begin to grow in the uterus. On average, a woman releases an egg from one of her ovaries each month (called ovulating). This is the time that a woman can become pregnant.
If a man and woman have vaginal sex (that’s when a man puts his penis into a woman’s vagina), the man can release sperm inside of her. Even though the man can release millions of sperm, it only takes one sperm to do the job. If just one of these sperm reaches the egg, the egg becomes fertilized (called fertilization) and it goes on to implant itself in the lining of the uterus. Once implanted, the fertilized egg can develop into a fetus.
If the egg doesn’t join with a sperm, a few weeks later the uterus will start to contract (this is why lots of women get those annoying and painful cramps!) and both the egg and the menstrual lining are released through the vagina as her period. This is why a woman getting her period at the expected time is usually a sign that she’s not pregnant.
Check this out!
A woman can get pregnant even without having vaginal sex! If the man has an orgasm close enough to the outside of the vagina for the sperm to start swimming up inside her, she can totally become pregnant even without having had sex (as if there wasn’t enough to worry about already)! Even before a man has an orgasm, he may release sperm in a clear, kind of sticky fluid that can come out of his penis after he gets an erection. And that can cause a woman to get pregnant.
Did you know?
A woman can get pregnant even without having vaginal sex!
