Pregnancy

This page is part of our Pregnancy Panic Companion. Click here to go back to the beginning. You said you are scared about a pregnancy, and your menstrual period (or your partner’s) is late or missed OR that you (or your partner) have irregular or sporadic periods. For those in the late or missed…

This is part of our Pregnancy Panic Companion. Click here to go back to the beginning. You said you are scared about a pregnancy, and your menstrual period (or your partner’s) is not yet due, late or missed. Has it been less than 120 hours since your risk? If you would like to reduce your risk, a…

You cannot become pregnant when you have pants or other kinds of clothing on that covers your genitals. No, seriously, listen up: YOU CANNOT BECOME PREGNANT WHEN YOU HAVE PANTS ON. No, not even JUST you but no one else, because you think you are some kind of one-in-a-million-something-or-other…

I’m so sorry to hear about your son’s health problems, Faith. It’s hard enough being a very young parent without the rights of an adult, let alone doing so when your child has serious health problems. It also seems like you might not have a very supportive family, so from the sounds of things, you…

Judging from the number of users I see experiencing pregnancy scares on the Scarleteen message boards, particularly from situations besides genital intercourse, you’d think sperm cells were some magical weapon of mass fertilization, powerfully wiggling their way through clothes/towels/fabric, and leaping off hands to impregnate every person around them within a 50 mile radius. Look out for scary sperm! Get outta the way! They’re coming right for you! (pun intended) As a volunteer for Scarleteen, I’m here to tell you none of this is physically possible. It just isn’t. As a former laboratory technician at a fertility clinic, having worked directly with sperm and semen (and without having ever gotten pregnant doing so, no less!), I want to tell you why.

Nothing. In other words, since it sounds like you’re asking for a personal answer here, and I am someone who could have become pregnant, and am someone who engaged in those sexual activities when I was a teen, the answer is that I didn’t do anything per preventing pregnancy and those activities…

First things first: you need to take a pregnancy test. ASAP. You don’t have to save up for that: pregnancy tests will be free for you at many public health, sexual health or abortion clinics or providers, including most Planned Parenthood branches. As well, home pregnancy tests you can purchase at…

Not only have we seen this before, it’s something we see at Scarleteen often. At our message boards, at least once or twice a week a user comes to us feeling exactly like you are. I promise, it’s not just you. Over the years, I’ve looked and looked for some kind of study on pervasive pregnancy…

Worried you might be pregnant? Evaluate your risk, find out what steps you may need to take next, check in with your feelings and by all means, breathe. We’re here to walk you through it.

Jack, Thanks for sending in your question! Although you’ve asked about the lifespan of sperm outside your body (and anyone else’s), I would like to spend a little time addressing your fear of touching your sperm, too. That’s a really important concern, because I want you to be able to be happy and…