Help needed: Pregnancy Risk

[Ash51]

Hi!
I’m so sorry but I’m freaking out a little. My girlfriend and I were doing foreplay, and then I remember removing her underwear. But before touching her vulva, I wiped my hands with a cloth briefly in case to get rid of any pre cum. After that I went on to finger her. I wanted to confirm that fingering cannot lead to a pregnancy right, even if I had some amount of pre cum on my hands after wiping ?
Thank you so much, I think I’ll probably stop sexual contact for a bit since it freaked me out.

[KierC]

Hi there Ash51,

No need to apologize! So, it sounds like there is no risk of pregnancy here. Even if there was pre-ejaculate on your hands, that would be indirect contact with pre-ejaculate, which doesn’t pose a risk to pregnancy.

Pre-ejaculate can contain sperm (not always), but those sperm cells are super fragile and cannot survive when the liquid dries, or when it’s exposed to an environment hotter or colder than the body. Does that make sense?

It’s a good idea to listen to yourself and stop an activity if it makes you anxious, but if it helps at all, here’s a primer on the pregnancy (and STI!) risk of different sexual activities too: https://www.scarleteen.com/read/can-i-g ... r-pass-sti

EDIT: Another resource I forgot to add: an intro on sperm cells, what they can and cannot survive in. https://www.scarleteen.com/about/announ ... perm-cells

[Ash51]

Thank you so much!
I thought the same as well. Plus I’m pretty sure if there was anything, I’d wiped it off else I would’ve noticed my hands being wet from pre cum.
The only thing that concerns me is my girlfriends period hasn’t arrived yet, she has 26-27 day cycles and today is day 27. Other wise she is having all the symptoms of a period, but I was reading that pregnancy symptoms are very similar and often you can have the exact feelings of getting a period but don’t end up getting one. Is that usually how it is?
Thank you, sorry for all the questions!

[KierC]

I’m glad I could help!

You’re right, the sperm cells that could be present in pre-ejaculate really wouldn’t survive past being on your hand, drying a bit, then being wiped up.

I hear you that a change in cycle length can be anxiety-inducing, but in fact “regular” menstrual cycles can often deviate by about three to four days, so in this case, the period wouldn’t be late yet. Too, if there was no activity that poses a risk to pregnancy, you can assume that this is not pregnancy-related. Things like age and stress can delay a period too if it does end up being a “late” period. There’s a bit more of an explanation of how we identify a late period as a pregnancy concern or not, located here: https://www.scarleteen.com/read/pregnan ... -or-missed

Symptoms like cramping and general PMS symptoms can start before menstruation starts — Right after ovulation (and sometimes during ovulation), during what’s called the secretory or luteal phase, some people can experience cramping and other PMS symptoms. We have a guide on the whole cycle here if you are interested: https://www.scarleteen.com/read/bodies/ ... nstruation