Can I have sex during fertility treatment?

You’ve begun the beautiful journey of wanting to have a child. While this adventure often comes with hope and excitement, we know treatments can also be psychologically stressful and raise many questions. One of the questions that may arise is whether you can have sexual intercourse during fertility treatments.

About sexual activity during fertility treatments

The answer to the question in this article’s title isn’t one-size-fits-all: it depends on the treatment and on the timing.

• If you’re undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI), you can have intercourse as usual during the stimulation phase.

Your clinicians will also advise you on the ideal days for intercourse based on follicular growth. Having sex the day before insemination and in the following days can help ensure that, when ovulation occurs, more sperm are available.

• If you’re undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF), penetrative sex is NOT recommended in the days before egg retrieval or in the days immediately after it.

The reason for this recommendation is to minimize the risk of bleeding and ovarian torsion. During IVF, the ovaries enlarge during stimulation, so intercourse or vigorous exercise can increase the risk of ovarian torsion.

Por otro lado, después de una punción ovárica el riesgo es de sangrado del ovario, por eso se recomendará postponer las relaciones hasta después de la siguiente regla.

On the other hand, after an egg retrieval there is a risk of ovarian bleeding, so intercourse is usually postponed until after the next period.

Do you have any questions or need more information?

At Fertility Madrid, we specialise in treatments such as egg donation, in vitro fertilisation and artificial insemination, among others.

Please do not hesitate to contact our professionals at our fertility clinic and they will answer all your questions without obligation.