Why didn't I get pregnant this month?

You were trying to get pregnant this month and you thought you timed everything perfectly, so why didn't it work?

The chance of getting pregnant in any individual month is less than 20%. The animation shows some of the more common problems encountered in each cycle. Keep in mind that the events in this animation are normal; they occur quite frequently in all women, and they have no impact on your ability to have a healthy pregnancy in the future.

Hover the mouse over each name to find out more. Click the start button in the lower left corner to begin the animation. The animation will stop at key points to allow you to read the explanations. When you are ready, you can click the start button to resume the animation.

Key Features

For ease in viewing, the sperm are represented here as much larger than they are. In reality, the ovum is more than 1,000 times larger than each sperm. Although there are only a few sperm represented in the animation, in real life, thousands of sperm at a time will be attempting to fertilize the ovum.
The animation covers the second half of the menstrual cycle. A menstrual cycle is from the first day of one period to the first day of the next period. During the first half of the cycle (happening before the animation begins) the ovum matures inside a special space in the ovary called a follicle. At the midpoint of the cycle (usually day 14 for women who have a 28 day cycle), the ovum is released from its follicle, and begins the journey down the fallopian tube to the uterus.