There are plenty of myths surrounding sex, fertility and pregnancy. Many people wonder whether it’s necessary to pee after sex and what impact this might have on conception chances.
Peeing after sex can help to flush bacteria from the urethra, which may prevent a urinary tract infection (UTI). However, it won’t prevent pregnancy or prevent STIs.
1. It’s not necessary
There’s nothing wrong with peeing after sex, but it is not necessary for fertility. In fact, it may even decrease your chances of getting pregnant.
During unprotected physical intimacy, sperm travels up through the vaginal canal, the cervix, and the fallopian tubes to meet an egg released by the ovaries during ovulation. The urethra is a separate opening that leads to your bladder. When you urinate, it flushes germs from your body, including any sperm that might be floating around.
While the sperm in your vagina might be washed away by pee, it’s unlikely to have any effect on conception. According to Planned Parenthood, fertilization only happens when one sperm penetrates the egg in the fallopian tube. This can occur as early as three minutes after sex, or it could take up to five days.
In addition to potentially washing away sperm, peeing can also help reduce your risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs can be harmful to fertility and overall health. They can also be difficult to treat if left untreated. In addition to peeing after sex, other ways to help prevent UTIs include using condoms and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In fact, a recent study found that women who peed after sex had less of a chance of getting a UTI than those who didn’t.
2. It’s not harmful
It’s important to keep in mind that peeing after sex does not negatively impact your fertility, especially if you are trying for a baby. This is because conception occurs when sperm combines with an egg in the fallopian tube. During unprotected sexual intimacy, your male partner’s penis ejaculates sperm into your vagina, and then the sperm travels up through the cervix and the fallopian tube. Urination does not interrupt this process in any way, because sperm moves up while pee flows down through the urinary tract.
When you pee after sex, it helps to flush bacteria out of the urethra. This reduces the risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs), because bacteria that enters the urethra can then make its way to the bladder, which can cause an infection.
In addition, peeing after sex may also help to clear out the semen that reaches the urethra during sexual intercourse. Semen can contain bacteria and cervical mucus, which are the fertilising ingredients for pregnancy [2].
That said, urinating after sex won’t prevent pregnancy if you don’t use a reliable form of birth control. The best options are either condoms or pills. Condoms can protect you against pregnancy at a rate of 82%, while oral contraceptives can prevent pregnancy at up to 79%. However, if you can’t afford or find condoms, there are also a number of spermicide products, such as liquids, creams, and suppositories, that can kill sperm and reduce the risk of pregnancy.
3. It’s not necessary for fertility
The reason why peeing after sex is so important for fertility is that it helps prevent and flush out any bacteria that may have been introduced during intercourse. Additionally, it helps keep the vaginal pH levels balanced which is crucial for conception. As Very Well Family explains, during unprotected physical intimacy, sperm are deposited in the vagina and then travel through the cervix and fallopian tube to meet the egg. But what many people don’t realise is that not all sperm make it all the way to the egg. Some residual sperm remains in the urethra and the vagina. Peeing after sex helps eliminate these unwanted sperm and bacteria, thus improving the chances of conceiving.
While this is true for women, it is not true for men. This is because during penetrative sex, sperm are actually ejaculated out of the penis into the vaginal opening rather than the urinary tract opening. Therefore, peeing (from the urethra) cannot flush sperm cells from the vagina and is therefore not useful for fertility purposes.
It is also worth noting that women are more prone to UTIs than men due to the structure of their anatomy. This is because the female urethra is shorter and closer to the bladder and anus, which means harmful bacteria can reach the bladder much more quickly in women than it does in men. Therefore, peeing after sex is very helpful in helping to prevent UTIs in women.
4. It’s not harmful for your health
One reason people are advised to pee after sex is because they think it prevents urinary tract infections (UTIs). This is because the acid in your pee is said to power wash your urethra, flushing out bacteria that can cause infection. But this logic is flawed. It’s actually easier to get a UTI from anal or vaginal sex than sexual activity, because the friction of those activities spreads germs in your mouth, anus and vulva.
Also, the idea that peeing after sex makes it harder to conceive is just not true. The sperm that is ejaculated during sex travels to the fallopian tubes, where fertilization takes place. Conception doesn’t occur until sperm penetrates an egg in the uterus, and that can take as little as three minutes after intercourse or as long as five days after it.
Finally, some people worry that peeing after sex may kill sperm and prevent conception. But this is also untrue. Sperm are ejaculated at a force much stronger than gravity, and they will keep traveling up your vaginal canal even if you immediately stand up after sex and pee. It’s only if you wait too long to pee that the sperm may not have a chance to reach an egg. This is why it’s important to use protection when engaging in sexual activity.
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