Can Pregnancy Occur If? Myths Cleared Up

If penetration only happens for a few seconds, can a woman get pregnant? Anytime the penis comes into direct contact with the vaginal area, there is the chance of pregnancy. The chance may not be as high as if intercourse with ejaculation took place, but there is still a risk. The transmission of STDs can also happen through any type of skin to skin contact like this.

Can pregnancy occur if a woman and a guy have faux sex or dry sex? (This is when there is no penetration, but there is skin to skin contact of the genital area.) Again, anytime the penis and the vaginal area come into contact, there is the slight risk of pregnancy and a risk for STD transmission.


Can pregnancy occur if the woman does not have an orgasm? Yes, pregnancy can occur even if a woman does not have an orgasm. An orgasm is not related to an egg being available for fertilization.

Can sperm travel through clothing or material? If the clothing was completely saturated with semen and was in direct contact with a woman’s vagina, there is a very slight chance the sperm could enter the vagina, but this is highly unlikely. No conclusive studies have been found to give a definite answer on this possibility.

Can a woman get pregnant from having sex in water? If actual intercourse takes place in any type of water, pregnancy is definitely a possibility. This is because intercourse will allow the sperm to be directly deposited in the girl’s vaginal area, and the water on the outside of the body would not interfere with this.

Can pregnancy occur if ejaculation takes place in water? It is not likely that tiny sperm could travel through the vast area of water that would fill a pool, bath tub or hot tub to reach a girls vagina and result in pregnancy. If ejaculation occurred in plain warm water, sperm could survive for a few minutes. If ejaculation occurs in very hot water, or water filled with pool chemicals, bubbles or other substances, sperm would not be able to survive for more than a few seconds. Pregnancy occurring from this is very unlikely and in most cases is not possible at all.


Can ejaculating numerous times lessen the chance of pregnancy occurring? The number of times ejaculation takes place does not affect the chance of pregnancy. Each ejaculation contains about 300 million sperm, and only one is needed to fertilize an egg.


Wondering about pregnancy, what do I do next? You may have just discovered that pregnancy is a possibility in your particular circumstance. Don’t panic; as noted above, in most cases the possibilities of pregnancy are rare. Your next step is to begin watching for early pregnancy symptoms. If you experience any of these symptoms then you will want to take a pregnancy test. You can take an over the counter test, or you can contact the Helpline to locate a testing center in your area.

Last updated: 10/2014