Dr. Yang 楊麗姝中醫網路醫院

★★★Ovulation and Pregnancy★★★

■　How does ovulation determine when I can get pregnant?

Knowing your time of ovulation is crucial to successful conception. Your fertile period starts about 4-5 days before ovulation, and ends about 24-48 hours after it. This is because sperm can live in your body for approximately 4 to 5 days, and the egg can live for 24 to 48 hours after being released. Maximum fertility is reached during the period of 24 hours before ovulation and 24 hours afterwards. To increase your chances of getting pregnant, you should time intercourse to occur during this 'fertile window'. See Getting Pregnant for more information.

■　How can Ovulation Calendar help me get pregnant?

Ovulation Calendar can calculate the days that are favorable for conception. It performs all the necessary calculations automatically, taking into account your time of ovulation, the lifespan of the egg and sperm; and shows the most favorable days with a heart symbol:



■　Can I improve my chances of having a girl?

To increase your chances of conceiving a girl, you should have intercourse 3-4 days before ovulation. Men produce two types of sperm — those carrying the X or female chromosome, and those that carry the Y or male chromosome. These two types of sperm are different in several ways: the male y-sperm cells are smaller, weaker, but faster than the female x-sperm cells, which are bigger, stronger, but slower. Therefore, if you have sex 3-4 days prior to ovulation, you have a better chance of conceiving a girl, because the weaker male sperm cells will die off, and the female sperm cells will be available in greater quantity when the egg is released. See Conceiving a Girl for more information.

■　How can I increase my chances of having a boy?

The closer to ovulation you have intercourse, the better the chances to conceive a boy, because the male y-sperm cells are faster than the female x-sperm cells, and they tend to get to the egg first. To improve your chances of conceiving a baby boy, you should have intercourse a day before ovulation, on the day of ovulation, and a day after it. See Conceiving a Boy for more information.

■　Can Ovulation Calendar help me choose the gender of my baby?

Yes, the full version of Ovulation Calendar can calculate the days that are optimal for conceiving a boy or a girl. The program calculates these days automatically, based on your time of ovulation, the lifespan of the egg, and the differences between male and female sperm cells. Please note that the ability to choose the gender of your baby is available only in the full version of Ovulation Calendar. See How to Get the Full Version for more information.