Many misconceptions abound about the act of getting pregnant and most of them are quite ridiculous. You have to look no further than the most far-fetched and oldest myth of all – the stork brings the baby. Fortunately we can rule that one out easily, but there are plenty of other mis-conception myths to go around. You could say the Internet is pregnant with such erroneous information concerning the simple act of making a baby. (You may also wish to read our top 10 myths about sex.)
10. Mountain Dew
Many people have heard that the soda drink Mountain Dew lowers a mans sperm count, therefore, if a man is drinking enough of Dew he cannot impregnate a woman. The food coloring dye in Mountain Dew, specifically Yellow 5 is rumored to reduce a man’s sperm production. This however, is totally false. A man can drink 10 bottles of Dew a day, and though he may get a gut from all that sugar, he is still very capable of getting a woman pregnant.
9. Two Condoms
Many men believe that if one condom is good, two would be even better. In actuality, two condoms increases the friction between the condoms. This friction then can lead to the rupture of both condoms, so for all those thinking they need a back up, just stick with one.
8. Hot Tub
Hot tubs are fun for all, but be warned, pregnancy can occur if you have intercourse in a hot tub just as easily as in a bed. Many people believe a “condom” of chlorine and heat kill the sperms, which it will, but all the sperm that stays inside is still perfectly fine and able to connect with an egg and start forming a baby!
7. Jumping Jacks
Though this is good exercise, doing jumping jacks after having sexual intercourse is not an effective method of birth control. Sperm do not fall out, they stay inside and keep swimming. As long as they are anywhere near the vagina, sperm are capable of finding an egg.
6. Douching
If you wash out the sperm after sex you couldn’t possible get pregnant right? Wrong. Though some of the sperm may be pushed out, many remain. In fact, many sperm become pushed up further into the vagina near the cervix making them even closer to the egg therefore increasing your chance of becoming pregnant.
5. Girl On Top
Another popular belief is that if you have sex with the woman on top she can not become pregnant because gravity will simply make the sperm fall out or render them incapable of swimming upward. Sperm however are very capable little guys, and can just as easily swim up with the girl on top as in any other position.
4. Rhythm Method
The rhythm method is a method of birth control that involves the careful mapping of a woman’s monthly cycle. The belief is that if you avoid intercourse during the days of ovulation, you can avoid pregnancy. However, sperm can live for 3 to 5 days in a woman’s vagina, and ovulation is not always set on the same day from month to month. The rhythm method by itself only has a 35% success rate.
3. First Time
Some people believe that during your first time having sex you can not get pregnant. In actuality, as long as the women has monthly cycles she can get pregnant even if it is her very first time having sexual intercourse.
2. During Menstruation
Some women and men think that if a woman is on her period she can’t become pregnant because she just finished her cycle and will not be ovulating for a couple weeks. though this is rare, it is in fact possible for a woman to have a short cycle, so she can get pregnant even though she is on her period.
1. “Pull Out”
The most common myth about conception is that is a man pulls out before ejaculation he can not get a woman pregnant because no sperm has entered her vagina. However, there is pre-ejaculatory fluid that comes out before a man has ejaculated and this fluid can contain sperm. These sperm can then proceed into the uterus and if they meet with an ova, a baby can be made.
18 Comments
My boyfriend & I have been using the pull out method for close to 4 years (16-20) and I have never been pregnant. Never even a scare. Ironically when we broke up he used a condom with another chick, it broke and now he has a son. Thing is the guy has to know his body.
To the people saying the pull-out method is almost guaranteed to work:
My first and third pregnancies were the result of using the pull-out method. Just to add insult to injury, my first pregnancy happened on a day when I shouldn’t have been ovulating.
However, my husband and I tried to conceive for a year before I finally got pregnant, which I suppose means in my case that the pull-out method is less effective at preventing pregnancy than NOT pulling out. Wait, no, it just means that a 0.3% chance means that THERE IS A CHANCE.
Even if the guy pees beforehand, there’s still an itty bitty chance some determined little sperm will hang on and then find its way to the egg.
As for the rhythm method, a woman’s cycle isn’t set in stone.
Please stop acting pompous just because you’ve lucked out. As I stated before, it took a YEAR for me to get pregnant when I was actively attempting to do so. Yet for my third pregnancy, all it took was 30 seconds of unprotected sex (that’s how long it took me to realize we were being idiotic and grab a condom) after 3 YEARS of using protection every time. All that shows is that pregnancy is largely a game of chance, and correlation does not equal causation.
Sorry if this is a bit rambly..
I am tired of hearing people say that you can get pregnant from precum. 99.7% precum DOES NOT contain sperm. Precum is by nature acidic it is meant to kill any bacteria, pathogens and to clean out the urethra of urine and other stuff. It would only contain sperm.03% of the time and only if the man ejaculated befor. hand and did not Urinate between cumming and sexual intercourse. This is true because then left over sperm can be pushed up with the precum, however 99% of any leftover sperm is KILLED by percum.
Get your facts straight People. You can get pregnant that way, but at least explain that the likeliness is next to null.
How many days a month is a female in a position to get pregnant? Like, 3 or 4 days where there’s actually an egg in play and ready to roll? So for 25+ days of the month, ALL contraceptives work equally well, even the harebrained ones, if only because there’s no pregnancy to be had. Feeling lucky?
The Mountain Dew thing is actually partly true. The yellow dye lowers sperm count, although only temporarily, and only by about 10% or so. Definitely not an effective birth control.
Yep..my biological father tried a combination of the pullout/first time methods. Thus, 9 months later I was born. Shows how smart he was.
If he claims he pulled out, he’s lying. If he did indeed pull-out it is HIGHLY unlikely he could have gotten your mother pregnant. The only possible way to have gotten her pregnant if he did indeed pull out is if he masturbated shortly before intercourse without urinating in between.
the pull out method (coitus interruptus) has a 4% failure rate.
Condoms have a 2% failure rate
these statistics are on the condom package guys, come on.
Pulling out is completely an effective method.
While jumping jacks or any radical movement are not effective birth control methods, it should be noted for people wishing to become pregnant that these actions do lower the likelihood of conception. For those people wishing to become pregnant, try to avoid major movement for a short time after sex.
The pulling out method can be up to 96% effective when used correctly as compared to condoms that are 98% effective.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Economy/story?id=768…
"The rhythm method by itself only has a 35% success rate."
in other words, 65% of people screw it up by miscounting, forgetting the last menstruation onset date, etc.
If you have a brain, it works. the sad irony is that such people should be having MORE kids, not fewer.
It is also known as NFP, natural family planning, and so far of my wife and the people we have been in contact with about this have had no unplanned pregnancies. in their 6yrs, 2 yrs, 5 yrs of practicing it
There's a special name for people who use the pull-out method.
Parents.
i agree with david i have been using the pull out method for 4 years now and as long as you pee beforehand or after wards if you're going a second time, then you should be fine. although its always better to be safe than sorry.
Why the hell would you do that?
You can get condoms for free – Planned Parenthood will provide birth control pills and the exam for free.
pulling out could actually work becuase pre ejaculatory fliud is NOT SUPPOSED to contain sperm but can from previous ejaculations that was left in the urethra, so if one were to urinate before sex, the ejaculatory fliud wont have any sperm in it
This is correct. Pre-ejaculatory fluid does NOT contain sperm as long as a man urinates before sex.
I find it frightening that people actually believe some of these things… I mean, the rhythm method and pulling are understandable misconceptions (Yeah, I know terrible pun), but hot tubs? Jumping jacks? Seriously? Well… I have always thought school health classes were pretty much useless, but what happened to common sense?