How many times can you have sex until you get pregnant?

This is an unusual question, and I’m not sure if you intended to ask this literally, but let’s see…

There is no set number – minimum or maximum – of times you can have sex before you get pregnant. A person with the capacity to get pregnant can have sex and get pregnant the first time they do so. They could have sex thousands of times and never get pregnant. It depends on the circumstances, and bear in mind nature usually favors the circumstances for a person to conceive.

If you take a group of 100 people who can get pregnant of child-bearing age and normal fertility⁠ (fertility: The ability to become pregnant or other things having to do with becoming pregnant (eg, “the fertility clinic”).) and cycles and tell them to regularly engage in sexual⁠ (sexual: About or relating in some way to sex or sexuality.) intercourse⁠ (intercourse: When people interlock their genitals and move together as feels good to them for the purpose of sexual stimulation and/or reproduction.) without using some kind of contraception⁠ (contraception: Devices, medications or behaviors used to intentionally aim to prevent pregnancy, including the condom, the cervical barrier, the implant, the patch, the pill, the rhythm method, the ring, the shot, the IUD, spermicide and withdrawal.) , 85 of those people will be pregnant within 12 months. The other 15 people will either take longer to get pregnant, or possibly not get pregnant at all. But this is just a statistic, and it’s very general. Whether or not a person who can get pregnant does so as a result of sex depends on their fertility, the fertility of their partner⁠ (partner: In a sexual context, a person with whom someone is having some kind of sex. The term “partner” can be used for all kinds of relationships, not just serious ones. “Partner” can also mean the person someone is with in a romantic or familial partnership.) , conditions inside their body, whether or not they’re ovulating as well as many other factors.

It may sound like a lot to do with a lot of potential to go wrong, but nature favors us to reproduce. Given there are 7.4 billion people on this earth, it’s a formula that’s worked pretty well to keep the human race going. It’s true that not all conceptions make it to live birth. Only about 1 in 3 conceptions will result in pregnancy⁠ (pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the uterus. Medically, someone is considered to be pregnant when an egg has been fertilized by sperm, cells divide, and the fertilized egg is implanted within the lining of the uterus.) . But that’s still enough to say that anytime you have sex without contraception, there is a risk of pregnancy.

So if you’re asking your question in the context of, “How many freebies do I get before I have to answer for some consequences?” then the answer is that there are no freebies. If you want to have sex, and you do not want to get pregnant, then you need to use some kind of birth control⁠ (birth control: Any number of methods people use to intentionally prevent unwanted pregnancy, including the condom, the cervical barrier, the implant, the patch, the pill, the rhythm method, the ring, the shot, the IUD, spermicide and withdrawal.) . The basic latex condom⁠ (condom: A thin sheath or tube of latex or another material, worn over the penis during sex to prevent or reduce the risk of pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted infections.) is cheap, easy and highly effective when used correctly. Back that up with some properly administered hormonal birth control (but only if it’s right for your body), and you’re going to have nearly 100% protection against unwanted pregnancy.

Read all about reproduction and get the low-down on birth control in these articles.

• Where DID I Come From? A Refresher Course in Human Reproduction
• What’s the Risk? Easy Pregnancy Risk Assessments
• Can you get pregnant the first time you have sex?
• Birth Control Bingo!
• Safe, Sound & Sexy: A Safer Sex How-To