How many days does the egg stay after ovulation

When your’re having sex to conceive (or just for fun), it’s important to understand how long both eggs and sperm are viable after ovulation. This way you can time sex or contraceptives accurately.

Eggs are viable (available to be fertilized by a sperm cell) for about 12-24 hours after ovulation. However, sperm cells are viable in your reproductive tract for up to five days, meaning the fertile window can last six days total. It’s nearly impossible to know you’ve ovulated the moment you do, so it’s important to have regular intercourse in the days leading up to ovulation, not just that day.

During ovulation

During the first half of the menstrual cycle–known as the proliferative, or “follicular” phase–many eggs are developing in follicles in your ovaries, though this does not happen spontaneously. During the beginning of the proliferative phase, your body begins to produce a hormone known as GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), which signals for FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) to begin stimulating your follicles to help mature your eggs, and prepare for ovulation.

Follicles produce and release estrogen as they grow, and when it becomes clear which egg is maturing best, the remainder will stop producing estrogen and disintegrate. This sole survivor has now solidified its place as the lone egg available for ovulation. At some point (usually about a day or two before you ovulate), the estrogen released by your dominant follicle reaches a certain threshold, which causes your brain to send instructions to release a new hormone, LH (luteinizing hormone). The surge in LH serves as instructions to your ovary saying, “hey ovary, release that egg!”

After ovulation

About a day or two after you notice the LH surge, your ovary will heed the hormone’s instructions, and release an egg into your fallopian tube, where it has plans to get together with your partner’s sperm cell–this is known as ovulation. At this time, your body will start producing the hormone progesterone, to help thicken your uterine lining and prepare it for pregnancy. If you had intercourse in the five days prior to ovulation, there may be a sperm cell waiting for your egg in the fallopian tube, although intercourse in the 12-24 hours after ovulation can also result in conception.

If your egg successfully meets a sperm and is fertilized within the day or so after ovulation, it will then travel towards your uterus, and implant in the uterine lining, where it will begin producing human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the hormone that pregnancy tests search for, and continue the progesterone production. Implantation tends to happen about 7-10 days after fertilization.

If your egg is not fertilized, estrogen and progesterone production will stop, and the thickened uterine lining will begin to disintegrate. When progesterone drops to a certain level, it triggers a menstrual period, and the start of a new cycle.

How do I know if I’ve ovulated?

Some women notice one-sided abdominal cramping or lower backaches when they ovulate, but it’s not always so clear. However, there are certain methods that you can use to determine whether you ovulated, including monitoring your basal body temperature, and using ovulation test strips.

Your basal body temperature (BBT) may vary throughout the menstrual cycle, but it often does so in a consistent way. Women may sometimes notice a slight dip in basal body temperature immediately before ovulation, but there is a quite strong correlation between ovulation and a spike in BBT in the days following ovulation, due to the elevated level of progesterone. Tracking your BBT across multiple cycles can help you figure out how consistent your ovulations are from cycle-to-cycle.

Ovulation tests are another tool you can use to determine if ovulation occurred. Ovulation tests search your urine for the presence of LH, the hormone that spikes in the day or two before ovulation, so ovulation tests can help you identify up to three of your fertile days, as an egg is viable for up to 24 hours after ovulation.

Tracking your basal body temperature and ovulation tests, as well as your symptoms, moods, and cervical fluid are excellent methods of pinpointing your ovulation so that you’re able to have the intercourse needed to conceive while your egg is still viable.

Sources

•  “Determining Your Fertile Window” American Pregnancy Association. American Pregnancy Association. June 12, 2018. http://americanpregnancy.org/getting-pregnant/fertility-window/

If you are trying to get pregnant, it's helpful to know when you ovulate and how to know when you're most fertile. Ovulation is when an egg is released from an ovary. Your ovulation period lasts for 12 to 48 hours. Typically, this takes place mid-cycle, but the exact timing is different for each menstruating person.

However, there are typically about 6 days in which you are most likely to conceive. Sperm are quite hardy and can survive in the female reproductive tract for around 72 hours, so you can get pregnant anywhere from five days before you ovulate to a day after you ovulate. This period is known as your fertile window. Timing sex during this six-day fertile window makes you significantly more likely to get pregnant.

Tracking Ovulation to Find Your Fertile Window

There are many methods of tracking and predicting ovulation so you can try to figure out when you are most fertile. An ovulation day calculator may provide an estimate, but isn't always the most accurate method, especially if you have irregular periods.

Some ways to try to pinpoint your ovulation period at home include over-the-counter ovulation predictor kits, body basal temperature charting, and checking for fertile cervical mucus.

Ovulation predictor kits, when used correctly, increase your chance of getting pregnant by 40%, according to a review of research data. Each kit comes with five or so test strips or sticks, and manufacturers typically recommend you test your urine for several days leading up to your suspected ovulation day. This makes this method can potentially costly, especially if you have somewhat irregular periods and you have to test for many days (or months) on end.

Among no-cost home ovulation-tracking methods, checking the texture of your cervical mucus may work best. According to research, people who had sex when they had slippery, egg-white-like cervical mucus (associated with your ovulation period) were two to three times more likely to conceive than those who had scant or absent mucus secretions (typical at the very start of your menstrual cycle).

When Is the Best Time to Have Baby-Making Sex?

The best time to have sex to conceive can be hard to pinpoint exactly. So, your best bet is to have sex on the days around and during what you believe is your fertile window, as there's no completely accurate method to to use at home to detect precisely just before you are about to ovulate. It's possible for an ovulation predictor kit, body temperature charts, and cervical mucus patterns to all indicate a slightly different ovulation day.

In a study of people with regular, 28-day cycles, ovulation occurred most commonly (in 27% of people) on day 15 after the start of the last menstrual period (LMP), followed by day 16 LMP (21%) and day 14 LMP (20%). Researchers found a 10-day spread of observed ovulation days even among a group of people with "clockwork" cycles, and a similar variation for people whose cycles were a little longer or shorter.

Another group of researchers set out to pinpoint the most commonly fertile day in the menstrual cycle across the general population—including those with irregular cycles—using menstrual period surveys and ultrasound measurements rather than ovulation signs. They found a sharp rise in the probability a person will conceive beginning at day 7 LMP, reaching a maximum probability of conception of 13% at day 15 LMP. By day 25 LMP, the statistical probability of conception is zero, according to the data.

In other words, if you're unsure about when you're ovulating or just want to cover your bases, aim to have sex every day or every other day during the 10-day to two-week period beginning one week after your LMP. Doing so will greatly improve your odds of having sex at least once (if not multiple times) during your fertile window.

How Can You Know If You're Not Ovulating?

Some people do not ovulate regularly, or at all. One in 10 people with ovaries experience anovulation, periods in which an egg is never released during their menstrual cycle, at some point during their childbearing years. If you're not ovulating, no amount of sex will get you pregnant.

Irregular periods or completely absent periods are the number one sign that ovulation may not be occurring, or may be occurring infrequently. Not seeing fertile mucus is another potential sign of anovulation. It is possible to have regular periods and not be ovulating, but this is uncommon.

A Word From Verywell

Understanding the science behind fertility as it relates to the timing of ovulation is helpful if you are trying to have a baby. But it's important to know that not everyone's fertile window falls at the same time of the month. When trying to figure out the best time to conceive, it may be more helpful to watch your body's signs of fertility—like changes in cervical mucus—than the calendar.

Research has also found that timing sex for pregnancy can cause excessive stress in some couples. If trying to conceive is causing a strain on the relationship, you may decide to ditch the monitoring methods and just try to have sex as often as is enjoyable for both you and your partner.

If frequent unprotected sex doesn't get you pregnant after a year (or six months, if you're over 35), then you may choose to see a fertility expert for an evaluation. Of course, if you have any possible signs of a fertility problem (including signs that you may not be ovulating), you don't need to try to conceive for a year before you see your doctor. You can be proactive and make that appointment now, with both a future baby and your own reproductive health in mind.

Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Fertility Awareness-Based Methods of Family Planning. Reviewed January 2019.

2. Evans-Hoeker E, Pritchard DA. Long L, Herring AH, Stanford JB, and Steiner AZ. Cervical Mucus Monitoring Prevalence and Associated Fecundability in Women Trying to Conceive. Fertility and Sterility 100, no. 4 (October 2013): 1033-1038.e1. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.06.002

3. Yeh PT, Kennedy CE, Van der Poel S, Matsaseng T, Bernard L, Narasimhan M. Should home-based ovulation predictor kits be offered as an additional approach for fertility management for women and couples desiring pregnancy? A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Glob Health. 2019;4(2):e001403. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001403

4. Soumpasis I, Grace B, Johnson S. Real-Life Insights on Menstrual Cycles and Ovulation Using Big Data. Human Reproduction Open 2020, no. 2 (February 1, 2020): hoaa011. doi:10.1093/hropen/hoaa011

5. Stirnemann JJ, Samson A, Bernard J-P, Thalabard J-C. Day-specific probabilities of conception in fertile cycles resulting in spontaneous pregnancies. Human Reproduction. 2013;28(4):1110-1116. doi:10.1093/humrep/des449

6. Cleveland Clinic. Anovulation. Reviewed August 25, 2021.

7. Boyle JA, Teede HJ. Irregular menstrual cycles in a young woman. CMAJ. 2014;186(11):850-2. doi:10.1503/cmaj.130667

8. Manders M, Mclindon L, Schulze B, Beckmann MM, Kremer JA, Farquhar C. Timed intercourse for couples trying to conceive. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;(3):CD011345. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011345.pub2

By Rachel Gurevich, RN
Rachel Gurevich is a fertility advocate, author, and recipient of The Hope Award for Achievement, from Resolve: The National Infertility Association. She is a professional member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and has been writing about women’s health since 2001. Rachel uses her own experiences with infertility to write compassionate, practical, and supportive articles.

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