Curious

[moonlightbae]

Hi scarleteen team!
As you may have noticed, I have a lot of anxiety caused by pregnancy scares. But this time I'm just curious so it's not about my pregnancy scare and I'm not asking if I'm pregnant.
I have read lots of articles about "precum" and how it can impregnate you. Now it's very very confusing to choose which ones are true - those who say that you CAN potentially get pregnant only from precum or those who tell you that "it's theorically possible, but technically not". So, I'm asking if precum is really a potential scare of pregnancy?
For example, if I'm having an intercouse without condom for a few minutes and then switch to condoms till the very climax, is that a potential pregnancy risk?
I know a lot of people use the pull-out method, so what about this one?
Some say that there is no safe time to have unprotected sex, some say that you can rely on FAM by tracking cervical mucus, basal temperature and checking your cervix.
Thanks for replies!

[Sam W]

Hi softuris,

Before diving in to your specific questions, I want to give you this article because it may help you identify which sources you can believe and which ones you should be more skeptical of: Legit or Unfit? Finding Safe, Sound Sex Educators & Support Online

It's possible for pre-ejaculate to create pregnancy but it's far, far, less likely to do so than ejaculate is. You can read more about the reasons for that here: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/advic ... _pregnancy. As for FAM, if practiced correctly it can be a fairly effective method of birth control, especially if it's paired with another, more effective method during times when a person is at their most fertile: Fertility Awareness (FAM).

All that being said, if someone wants to reduce their risks of pregnancy from intercourse as much as possible, they'd want to choose a more effective method than FAM or withdrawal, like condoms or a type hormonal birth control. Or, they could combine withdrawal and FAM with another method, such as condoms (and make sure the condom is used for all contact, not just close to ejaculation). Does that all make sense?

[moonlightbae]

Thank you!
Also, the articles I've read says that urinating can wash out the left over sperm. But taking example: a man has sex with a woman, he ejaculates, then goes to the bathroom to urinate and washes his penis so none of the ejaculate is present. So does this present a risk of active spermatozoa in the pre-ejaculate next time he's sexually aroused? Or is it washed out completely?

[Heather]

The issue with trace sperm cells sometimes being present in pre-ejacuate is about pre-ejaculate picking them up in the urethra, inside the penis, not about what might be on the outside of the penis. But yes, urinating afterwards makes it highly unlikely any trace cells would be left over. Not impossible, but very unlikely.

[moonlightbae]

And if a man leaks A LOT of pre-ejaculate, does that change anything? Does it mean that it might have sperm in it, or not?

[Sam W]

No, as far as we know that's not one of the things that increases the pregnancy risks associated with pre-ejaculate.

Really, what may be more helpful for you in terms of anxiety is to focus less on hypothetical situations and instead focus on talking with your partner about what safer sex measures you're going to use to decrease the risks as much as possible. Too, it would be helpful to talk about whether there are types of sexual activity that you're just not ready to deal with the risks of and need to not engage in, period. Are those conversations you two have had?

[moonlightbae]

Yes, we talked about this. I'm just curious for my own knowledge

[Sam W]

Okay, great! Curiosity and wanting to be more educated about sexual things is something we encourage. We just want to remind users that if getting more information doesn't seem to help with their anxiety around sexual things, that may be a sign that there's something else going on that needs to be addressed.

[moonlightbae]

In my country, there isn't any/or reliable sex educators especially that would educate someone my age (I'm 17). Personally, I think it's a big problem, so I don't have any choice than rather educate myself by reading, asking questions. Hope it didn't bother you
It's just that I have seen maaaany conflicting discusses about whether precum can cause pregnancy or not. I find your page reliable, I learned many things I didn't know before. Keep it up!

[Sam W]

Glad we could help you out!