Dr. Kate is an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in New York City and she answers your medical questions here every two weeks. To ask her your own question, click here.
Dear Dr. Kate,
Can you get pregnant without having actual intercourse? And if so, how?
— Curious Georgina
Dear C.G.,
In theory you can, though I don’t know if it’s ever been proven. If you’re aroused and lubricated, and your partner ejaculates near your vagina (via masturbation or “outercourse”), it’s possible that some sperm could “ride the wave” into your body and travel all the way up to a waiting egg. It’s certainly not likely that someone could get pregnant this way, and I’d never recommend this approach for someone who wants to get pregnant. But if you really don’t want to be pregnant, I’d take no chances — keep all sperm far from your vagina (preferably in a condom).
— Dr. Kate
Gynotalk
Dr. Kate is an OB/GYN at one of the largest teaching hospitals in New York City. She also lectures nationally on women’s health issues and conducts research on reproductive health. Check out more of her advice and ask her a question at Gynotalk.com.
Hey there. From what I understand from following natural family planning, there are days when you are fertile and days when you are not. With NFP one part of the method is to study you cervical secretions. On your most fertile days (around when you ovulate, so about 6 days a month) you find that any discharge is very clear, stringy and stretchy, kinda like raw egg white. On the days when you are not likely to get pregnant, discharge is more likely to be white and tacky, kinda like cream.
This once and for all answered the ‘can you get preggers without having sex’ question for me. It made me think that the body is designed to make babies and that slear stretchy mucus is perfect for very quickly allowing sperm to swim up into your body, even if it gets ejaculated onto your pussy and gets involved with the mucus, rather than into it. I think it is still extremely unlikely to get pregnant that way, but I guess that might be what Dr. Kate means by ‘it’s possible that some sperm could “ride the wave” into your body and travel all the way up to a waiting egg’.