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When should I quit contraception to get pregnant?

It depends on what kind of birth control you use. The barrier methods - such as condoms, diaphragms, and spermicides - work only as long as you use them; as soon as you stop, you're fertile. Hormone-based medicines - including the Pill, Depo-Provera, NuvaRing, and the birth control patch (for example, Ortho-Evra) - take longer to get out of your system. You may ovulate very shortly after stopping the Pill (weeks or days, even). On the other hand, it can take three months to one year to resume regular ovulatory cycles after stopping Depo-Provera.

We know of no hard-and-fast rules about how long you should wait after stopping birth control before you start trying to conceive. In fact, you can start trying to conceive straight away. If you're Fertile Myrtle, you may get pregnant on the first try. But keep in mind that if you haven't resumed regular cycles, you may not be ovulating each month, and it may be more difficult to time your intercourse to achieve conception. (At least you can have a good time trying!) If you get pregnant while your cycles are irregular, it also may be harder to tell exactly what day you conceived and, therefore, to know your due date.

Some women use a hormone-releasing device called the Mirena or intrauterine system (IUS) for contraception. Although the risk of getting pregnant when you have one of these in place is tiny, it's not unknown. If this happens, you need to have your IUS taken out as soon as you can arrange it with your practitioner.

If you use an intrauterine device (also called a coil or IUD), you can get pregnant as soon as you have it removed. Sometimes a woman can conceive with her IUD in place. If this happens to you, your practitioner may choose to remove the device, if possible, because getting pregnant with your IUD in place puts you at risk of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or early delivery. Getting pregnant with an IUD in place doesn't put the baby at increased risk of birth defects.

Get more information about fertility and tips on getting pregnant