Scarleteen

Hi Scarleteen, I have some questions regarding ovulation. Because I don’t want any hormonal method of birth control, so currently I am using condom combined with withdrawal (which my partner still using condom but just ejaculate outside) and because I wanted more secure for myself, I used ovulation predictor kit too, so roughly to know when I ovulate. If the predictor kit Positive, is this mean its safer not to do any intercourse for 48 hours? Like is it mean going to ovulate within the 48 hours? And is it safe to do intercourse during this period with condom and withdrawal method? Thank you

Hi there yunlad,

I'm sorry in advance for the long answer! The short answer is that an ovulation test is not really an exact instrument the way that you're trying to use it. Ovulation tests detect levels of a chemical called LH (luteinizing hormone), which tend to spike just before someone is about to ovulate. If you get a positive result, it means that it's detected a high enough level of hormones that, yes, it's likely you're about to ovulate in the next 1-2 days. So the next 1-2 days would theoretically be when you're most likely to get pregnant, because that's how long the egg will last after it's released.

To complicate things further, you're actually most likely to get pregnant if you have sex within three days before your actual ovulation, because that's how long sperm can live inside of the fallopian tubes. If that happens, and the sperm are hanging out and waiting for an egg to be released, you can become pregnant as soon as you ovulate. That risky period doesn't finish until the egg has been released and made its way through the uterus, which takes about 24 hours.

However (and this is a big however), ovulation tests like the ones you're taking only tell you that you're likely to ovulate in the next 1-2 days. It doesn't confirm that you actually have ovulated, or what your relative pregnancy risk is, because our bodies operate loosely on relative levels of hormones and chemical messengers, and that doesn't happen like clockwork. In fact, there's an even more in-depth method of tracking ovulation called the Fertility Awareness Method (which you can read all about here) that involves taking your temperature with a special thermometer every day to track tiny changes in your body temperature that indicate menstrual changes. But even that's not perfect.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that if it makes you feel better to use the ovulation test and avoid sex during the 2 days after you get a positive result, you're welcome to use it. But there really are no guarantees when it comes to menstrual cycles, so the most consistent way to prevent pregnancy is to combine birth control methods, like how you're doing with the combination of using condoms and withdrawing before ejaculation. You can read about the effectiveness of that combo over at The Buddy System: Effectiveness Rates for Backing Up Your Birth Control. Does that make sense?

Just out of curiosity, what about hormonal birth control methods makes you not want to use them?

Hi Al,
Thank you so much for the explanation. Yes, that makes so much sense to me. I have not tried any hormonal method, but I am scared for the risks, as I heard some will even cause nauseous and ruin the hormones. So I think I will only stick to non hormonal method.
The last question I wanted to ask is it still safe to use the combination of condom and withdrawal even during our most fertile period? Cause sometimes I am just too scared of the ovulation until I need to pause any sex intercourse for 10 days, cause they said 5days before ovulation is also a risky period? So is it still safe to use the condom and withdrawal method during fertile period? Thank you so much for your reply

Hi Yunlad,

If you look at the article I linked you to, the effectiveness rate for withdrawal method + condom use, you'll see that the listed effectiveness is 99.92% effective with perfect use - 96.2% effective with typical use. So the likelihood of getting pregnant from that is very low, but not impossible.
Only you can decide whether or not that level of risk is worth it to you or not.

You mentioned feeling scared about ovulation and/or pregnancy risk - if you're feeling scared to the point of not being able to focus on much else, or not being able to enjoy yourself, it can be a sign that you may not be ready or comfortable with the risk you're incurring or the activity you're partaking in. We have a great article called Ready or Not: The Scarleteen Sex Readiness Checklist which gives some examples of things that you might want to think about and ask yourself about whether or not you're making choices that you feel comfortable with.

Thank you Al, i think I know what you mean by the risk. Because no matter what type of birth control as long as we had intercourse it will still had some risk of getting pregnant, is this what I can understand from it? Thank you for the explanation, Is it also means that with or without ovulation, the rate of combining withdrawal and condom will remain the same? Not like said if its near ovulation then the risk will be higher even with the same combination? Thank you so much

Hi Yunlad,

Yep, technically speaking vaginal intercourse will never be completely without risk of pregnancy, although there are methods (or combinations of methods) that make the chances incredibly, incredibly small. And yes, the effectiveness of those method combinations doesn't change if someone is ovulating. You can read more about part of why that is here: Let's Dial Down Some (Maybe) Ovulation Freakouts.

Thank you so much Sam for the reply! The article really helpful, because I thought if someone is ovulating the effectiveness will change, but I got it know. Thank you again!

By all means, around the time you're ovulating is going to be the time when contraceptive methods are most put to the test.

One solid option, if you're still worried about this or don't feel safe enough with those methods you're using, is if you have regular cycles and do chart your fertility to know around when ovulation will be, you can just not have any intercourse (but have other kinds of sex that doesn't present any risk of pregnancy) during that time, at all, then use the methods you're using the rest of the time when you are having intercourse.

Yes, I agree with you Heather. Thats what I have been doing all the time, but for this month I did intercourse on the time of ovulation ( tell from the ovulation kit) but of course with the contraception methods that I have been using, but I felt not safe enough after I did it, so I wanted to know is the effectiveness still there even if I ovulated during intercourse. But I think I will follow ur advice from now on to be rest assure. Just want to ask, if I did intercourse on the ovulation day, but I used my methods ( condoms and withdrawal ) and I dun see any fail from the condoms ( like slippage or break ) do I need to take the ec pill? Thank you for all the replies

There's no need for EC if a condom was used the whole time and didn't break or slip off, because there's nothing for EC to do in that situation, if you follow me.

Do you want to talk about your options in birth control? If you're okay using EC, it might even be worth it to talk about other hormonal methods: I'm not sure why you don't want to use them (and you don't have to if you don't want -- I'm not going to push them on you), but it sounds like you're probably not super confident with what you have been using instead so far.

Thank you so much Heather for the reply, yes i would like to talk about my options in birth control. Is there any other non hormonal birth control that i can use aside from condom? Which one is you recommend the most? Thank you

Hi Yunlad,

In terms of non-hormonal methods, there are other ones you can use (and many you can use along with condoms) but some of those (like withdrawal) are going to be less effective than a condom is if they're the only method being used. You can read about those options here: https://www.scarleteen.com/birth_contro ... hod_for_me

One option you could explore is a cervical barrier, as they have an effectiveness that's close to that of condoms: Cervical Barriers (Diaphragms, Lea's Shield and Cervical Caps). Another is certain types of IUD, as some are considered non-hormonal: Intrauterine Devices (IUD, IUC or IUS)Reading up on those methods, are there ones that look like a good fit for you?

Hi Sam,
For now I have been using the condom and withdrawal method. Is cervical barrier can be added up to my combo? Cause I prefer to use more than 1 method for preventing pregnancy. And is the cervical barrier easy to buy? Thank you

Hi Yunlad,

Yes, you can use cervical berriers with condoms. They are something that needs to be fitted by a doctor or nurse to make sure you get one the right size, so start by making an apointment with your healthcare provider first. Does that sound good?

Thank you Sian, I will consider that.