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When does Conception Occur?

Though conception and ovulation are tightly connected to each other these are two different physiological processes. Ovulation is a release of a mature egg from ovum. Once the egg is released a woman has 24 hours to conceive a baby.

How soon after ovulation conception occurs?

Science has not discovered all secrets of conception. There are still many questions we are not able to answer. The main question many couples ask is “when exactly after ovulation conception occurs?” Ovulation and intercourse rarely happen on the same day, thus finding an answer to this question is important.

The body starts preparing for ovulation on the first day of menstrual bleeding or this is the first day of your monthly period. This is the period when follicles inside ovaries start growing. When your periods are over, the body starts producing more estrogen, follicles continue growing and get ready to release from the ovary. Several days before ovulation cervical mucus becomes more abundant and fertile, as it prepares to transport the sperm. Generally, cervical mucus gets fertile about 5 days before ovulation. This means, if you had sexual intercourse 3-5 days before ovulation you have excellent chances to conceive. This period is favorable for conceiving a girl, because female sperm live longer than male sperm.

Mature egg lives from 12 to 24 hours, while the sperm can live in fallopian tubes for as long as 5 days (sometimes up to 7) . However, without the presence of fertile cervical mucus the sperm will live for just one or two days. Conception occurs when the sperm meets an egg and fertilizes it. Thus, the main condition of the egg fertilization is the presence of sperm during ovulation. To increase your chances of getting pregnant it is recommended having sexual intercourse within the first twelve hours of ovulation.  Doing this is possible only if you know your ovulation date. Predicting ovulation is possible through fertility charting.

What happens after conception?

Conception occurs the moment when an egg meets the sperm. Generally, this happens within 24 hours after a woman has ovulated. The body understands it is pregnant only when a fertilized egg gets inside the uterine. This happens between the 5th and 12th day after ovulation. Before this happens detecting pregnancy with commercial pregnancy tests is impossible. Once the fertilized egg gets into the uterus it sends signals to the corpus to continue producing progesterone. During pregnancy, women experience the surge of pregnancy hormone (HCG) the number of which doubles every other day.  Most pregnancy tests can detect pregnancy hormone on the tenth day after ovulation. However, the most sensitive tests can show positive result on day seven after ovulation. Thus, to get accurate results, it is recommended using pregnancy tests not earlier than ten days after ovulation.

Unfortunately, no one can tell when conception occurs. To answer this question it is necessary to detect the exact moment of ovulation, which, in fact, is impossible. However, women can predict their fertility window. Having sexual intercourse during fertile days increases your chances of conceiving a baby.