It’s approaching a year since the last time probably any of us just happened to converse with a total stranger in the course of a day. I mean, let’s be honest, how conducive is Covid to allowing for the kind of spontaneous and often serendipitous interactions we used to have when, oh I don’t know . . . we weren’t covered with a mask and standing at least 6 feet away from each other!

But in trying to remember life pre-Covid, I remember how one of the first questions people often asked each other is along the lines of “And what do you do?” As soon as I mentioned that I’m a women’s health educator specializing in fertility, invariably I’d get any number of questions, including the following two: Is it true that women are most fertile on Day 14? And when is a woman most fertile in her cycle?

The first question is the pervasive ‘Day 14 Myth’ that we were all raised hearing. And while it’s true that a woman in any particular cycle may be most fertile on Day 14, in another cycle she may be most fertile on Day 11, or even Day 18. The point is that the most fertile day is not a function of the cycle day itself, but of when in that cycle she ovulates. Which ties right into the second question I get so often:

The second question is a little trickier to answer: When is a woman most fertile in her cycle? The simplest way to explain this is that she is most fertile on her Peak Day, the last day that she has either a lubricative vaginal sensation or produces fertile cervical fluid for any given cycle. It is called the “Peak Day” because it denotes her peak day of fertility. It usually occurs within a day or two of ovulation.

Of course, if you are really paying attention, you should be asking me how you could possibly know when your last day is, since you obviously can’t know until the day after, when you are no longer wet, right? Bingo. That’s the point! Since you won’t know until the next day, you need to treat each day with wet slippery cervical fluid or vaginal sensation as your most fertile day, so that you don’t miss the optimal time to conceive!

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Thank goodness 2020 is finally in our rearview mirror. And may this new year bring you the joy you all so deserve.