The period each month during which a woman’s ovum has been released and can most readily be fertilized by a sperm.
That time in the menstrual cycle in which fertilization is most likely to occur. Attempts to determine a woman’s fertile period are based on knowledge of when ovulation (the release of an ovum, or egg from the ovary) occurs (usually 14 days before onset of a period), of how long the ovum will survive (usually 24 hours), and of how long sperm will survive in the female genital tract (usually 48-72 hours). Thus the fertile period begins 2 or 3 days before ovulation and lasts 2 or 3 days afterward, but to allow for possibly longer survival times of sperm and egg it is usually considered to last 7 or 8 days around ovulation. Knowledge of the fertile period is used by some to help prevent conception and by others to try to increase the chance of conception.
The period of time in the reproductive cycle of the female that begins a few days prior to ovulation and ends with ovulation, during which she is most likely to conceive.
The fertile period in a woman’s menstrual cycle is the time when conception is most likely to happen. This period typically lasts between three to five days and starts just before ovulation. Ovulation occurs approximately 14 days before the start of a new menstrual cycle.