Can a woman get pregnant if she isn’t menstruating? Or another way of putting it is: Can a woman assume she doesn’t need to use birth control if she isn’t having periods? The answer is not as intuitive as you’d think. On the surface, any fairly educated person might think “Of course she can’t get pregnant if she’s not having periods! What an absurd question.”

Actually, the answer is that yes, she could theoretically conceive even if she isn’t menstruating, but certainly it would be a stretch. Stick with me on this one:

Since a woman releases an egg about 12 to 14 days before menstruation, it’s possible to get pregnant without even having periods! Thus, women who are not menstruating for whatever reason (excessively low body fat, breastfeeding, being premenopausal, etc.), are always at risk of impending ovulation. This is because the underlying condition causing the lack of menstruation could change at any time, thus unexpectedly triggering the release of an egg.

The bottom line is that women who don’t menstruate can’t count on their condition as reliable contraception. In fact, the only practical way to know if ovulation is approaching is through charting your cycles, and more specifically, observing your cervical fluid as it evolves into a wet slippery secretion, indicating high levels of estrogen necessary for ovulation to occur. And once the egg has been released, waking temperatures will rise and remain sustained until the next period.

Of course, for those couples desiring to get pregnant, the reality is that you will need to resolve the underlying issue preventing menstruation. Until you do so, your chances of conception will be extremely low.

Alas, all this is to say that the menstrual cycle is really not that big a mystery if you chart your primary fertility signs of cervical fluid and waking temperature. Just one more example of developing body literacy, which is a beautiful thing.