If you’re trying to conceive and you’ve just stopped your birth control, you may be wondering how long it will take for your fertility to return. The answer to this question depends on what type of birth control you were using.
Here’s the Breakdown:
- Natural Family Planning (Not Having Sex During Your Fertile Window): This is a timing thing and doesn’t affect fertility. Therefore, you can start having sex during your fertile window (when you ovulate each month) and see what happens. Get Wise about how to figure out your fertile window.
- Barrier Method (e.g. Condoms, Female Condoms, Diaphragms, Spermicides): There’s an immediate return to fertility after the barrier method has been withdrawn. Why? Because the barrier method doesn’t affect a woman’s hormones.
- Hormonal Birth Control (e.g. Birth Control Pills, the Patch, NuvaRing, Depo-Provera Shots, etc.): After discontinuing hormonal birth control, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year to get back to full-strength fertility depending on which type of hormonal birth control you used.
PediaTrivia: Women who received the Depo-Provera shot must wait the longest for their fertility to return.
Tell Me More…
Below is a Chart Showing the “Return of Fertility” Time Frames for the Most Commonly Used Types of Hormonal Birth Control.
| Type of Hormonal Birth Control | Return of Fertility Time Frame (These are Averages) |
|---|---|
Birth Control Pills
| 1-3 months (after stopping) |
NuvaRing
| 1-3 months (after removal) |
The Patch
| 1-3 months (after removal) |
Nexplanon
| Quick return of fertility, usually within 1 month |
Hormonal IUDs (Intrauterine Devices)
| 1 month (after removal) or less |
Depo-Provera
| About 9-10 months |
Blast From the Past: In the past, doctors advised women to wait three months after stopping birth control to have unprotected sex. This advice was given so women could better track their cycles, not because it was unsafe to get pregnant. Translation: Go for it (if you’re in the mood)!
The Type of Birth Control Used Isn’t the Only Factor That Determines How Quickly a Woman Will Get Pregnant. Other Factors That Affect Fertility Include:
- Age: As women age, their fertility declines. This is especially true after age 35, although many women over 35 go on to deliver healthy babies.
- General Health: Certain medical conditions (such as polycystic ovary syndrome) can adversely affect fertility, as well.
Call Your Doctor If:
- Your period doesn’t return within three months of stopping your birth control (unless you were using Depo-Provera).
- Your monthly cycles are irregular or the bleeding is heavier than usual.
- You’re under 35 and you’ve been trying to get pregnant for 12 months.
- You’re 35 or older (“advanced maternal age,” in the medical world) and you’ve been trying to get pregnant for at least six months.
The Next Steps If You’re Trying to Get Pregnant and Nothing is Happening:
If it’s taking you a while to get pregnant, your doctor will either run some tests in the office or send you straight to a fertility specialist. It’s easier to test the sperm, so that’s usually where doctors start. The lab will look at how many sperm are in the ejaculate, how well they swim, and their shape and size. (Cut to the scene of an anxious man in a small room with a sterile cup and some old porn magazines.)
The Bottom Line
It can take a few cycles to get pregnant if you’ve been on birth control (depending on the type). Odds are, you’ll get pregnant within a year. If you’re under 35, let the doctor know if you haven’t gotten pregnant after a year of trying. If you’re 35 or older, call the doc after 6 months.
