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How Does a Pregnancy Happen?

How Does a Pregnancy Happen?

Pregnancy takes place when sperm travels to the fallopian tube and fertilizes an egg . A sperm can meet and fertilize an egg in different ways:

  1. Sperm is ejaculated from a penis into a vagina
  2. Sperm is inserted into a vagina through artificial insemination or an egg fertilized outside the body and then placed into the uterus

It is important to know that though less likely, it is still possible for sperm to fertilize an egg even without vaginal penetration. This may include if sperm are ejaculated near a vagina, if pre-cum  gets into or near a vagina, or if sperm enters the vagina through fingers.

This means penetration is not necessary to get pregnant.

Female external anatomy
Female external anatomy
Female internal anatomy
Female internal anatomy
Male anatomy
Male anatomy

How Pregnancy Occurs

The process that leads to pregnancy starts in about the middle of the menstrual cycle (i.e. day 14 in a 28-day cycle), when a mature egg leaves the ovary – this is called ovulation – and travels through the fallopian tube to the uterus.

Ovulation takes place when hormonal changes signal the ovaries to release a mature egg. This usually occurs monthly as part of the menstrual cycle.

The mature egg stays alive for about 12 to 24 hours, slowly moving down the fallopian tube. If it doesn’t meet any sperm during this time, it dies and leaves the body during the next period.

If semen enters the vagina, the sperm swim through the cervix and uterus to reach the fallopian tubes in search of an egg. They have up to six days to find an egg before they die, and when they do meet an egg, it is called fertilization.
Hence, there can be up to six days between sex and fertilization.

Once fertilization takes place, the egg travels through the fallopian tube to reach the uterus. During this journey, it begins to divide into more and more cells, forming a ball as it grows. This ball of cells – called a blastocyst – reaches the uterus three to four days after fertilization.

The ball of cells floats in the uterus for another two to three days. When it attaches to the lining of the uterus, it is called implantation.

The implantation process takes three to four days to complete and this is when the pregnancy officially begins. What happens next is that an embryo develops from the cells inside the blastocyst, and the placenta – a temporary system that provides nutrients and other necessary supplies to the embryo – develops from the cells on the outside of the blastocyst.

Around this time, a pregnancy hormone is released which prevents the lining of the uterus from detaching and exiting the body, as happens during the monthly menstrual cycle. This is why people do not have periods during pregnancy.

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