The fertile window

Hands up who was taught at school that pregnancy was imminent the second you had sex? Cue Coach Carr in Mean Girls **facepalm**

I don’t know about your school’s sexual education program, but I don’t remember being taught that while a man is fertile EVERY day of the month, a woman is only fertile for 6 DAYS a month; 5 days before ovulation (because that’s how long sperm can live) and one day after ovulation (as an egg only lives 12-24 hours). I was not taught body literacy or how to read ovulation signs. I was led to believe that pregnancy could occur at any time, and that after discontinuing birth control, women could go on to conceive at any time when desired. I was not taught that in reality, one in seven couples will go on to struggle with fertility. For most couples, the chance of getting pregnant in any given month of trying is around 20%.

Obviously teen pregnancy is no joke, and as we know teens (and even some adults!) can be reckless and think they are invincible (or impregnable!). And as we have previously discussed, using the fertility awareness method does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases. It can also take up to 6 years (or even longer!) for a teenage girl’s cycle to become regular, and it can therefore be difficult to predict ovulation in an irregular cycle. But I do wholeheartedly believe that sex education in schools should include education around body literacy, ovulation signs, and pros and cons around different birth control methods. After all, knowledge = power. 

What was your sexual education like in high school? Were you ever taught about fertility awareness or encouraged to learn about body literacy?