Can Late Ovulation Affect Your Chances of Pregnancy?

When a mature egg is released from an ovary it is called ovulation. For women who have a regular menstrual cycle of 28 days, ovulation occurs on day 14th and if it occurs after 21 days of your monthly cycle, then it is known as delayed or late ovulation. If you’re stressing and wondering if there are any chances to get pregnant after delayed or late ovulation then read this article to know more.

Symptoms of Delayed or Late Ovulation

Some of the common symptoms of delayed or late ovulation are as follows:

1. Vaginal Discharge

Changes in vaginal discharge are quite common and the cervical mucus increases and resembles egg whites and appears to be stretchy and clear.

2. Spotting

When the ovulation is late some women may experience spotting.

3. Basal Body Temperature

An increase in basal body temperature.

4. Pain in the lower abdomen

You may feel pain at one side of your tummy or may experience some breakthrough bleeding. It is also called Mittelschmerz.

Ovulation can be late or absent due to an imbalance in your hormones and that doesn’t mean that you’re infertile. If you ovulate between days 21-35 then you might have no clue about your next menstrual cycle. Most of the time tracking your menstrual cycle and ovulation window can be a daunting task and for that, you can take help from a fertility expert.

Causes of Delayed or Late Ovulation

Some of the most common causes of delayed or late ovulation include:

1. Stress

Stress of any kind be it physical, mental, or emotional, is bad for your health and fertility. It causes menstrual disorders in women because of poor hormonal health.

2. Thyroid Disorders

A woman is said to be fertile when the pituitary gland is creating hormones. Even if the woman is ready to conceive, thyroid disorders like Hypothyroidism or Hyperthyroidism affect the natural process and create problems in the ovulation cycle. Irregular periods can happen due to Hyperprolactinemia (When the hormone prolactin is secreted excessively).

3. Breastfeeding

Prolactin is an essential hormone that produces breast milk and that also lowers fertility in a woman’s body during lactation. It's normal for nursing mothers to get an irregular menstrual cycle.

4. PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome)

PCOS affects the ovaries because testosterone is overproduced. It affects the functioning of ovaries by producing an excess of male hormones in a woman’s body, weight gain, irregular menstrual cycle, enlarged ovaries, and small cysts are built up in ovaries. Women with PCOS have to face many complications when trying to conceive.

You may like to read: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) : Treatment & Management

5. Medications

Certain drugs and medications like steroids, marijuana, cocaine, some antipsychotic medication, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories can restrain your ovulation cycle.

6. Hormonal imbalance

The variation in ovulation can be caused due to an imbalance of the following hormones: progesterone, estrogen, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone.

After knowing about the causes and common symptoms of late ovulation, let’s find out how it affects conception and fertility.

How does delayed ovulation affect conception?

Usually, an egg is fertilized within 12-24 hours after its release and then only pregnancy is said to be confirmed. No doubt it's harder to predict your fertile time during irregular ovulation but that doesn’t mean you won’t get pregnant. For an accurate evaluation, you must seek medical help because if you are planning to conceive then it may require multiple attempts.

Some of the possible consequences of delayed or late ovulation are:

• Difficulty in tracking your menstrual cycle

• Hormonal levels go out of balance and cause late maturity of eggs

• Increase in breast sensitivity

• A heightened sex drive

• You may have to wait a little longer for the sperm to get fertilized

• Sometimes immature eggs may get released

• Heavy bleeding in your next menstrual cycle

To keep a track of your accurate ovulation window you must use ovulation predictor kit or tool. Several factors can affect conception and you might face difficulty in getting pregnant.

When to consult a doctor?

Many couples are hesitant to visit a doctor because they lack the knowledge and don’t know when they should consult one. You should consult a fertility expert for the following reasons:

• You’ve been trying to conceive for the last 1 year without using any birth control methods

• Abnormal bleeding and excruciating pain during periods

• For the last 90 days, you are not having your menstrual cycle