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Did you ever wake up and wonder when your life became a soap opera? A bizzare mixture between 'Dawson's Creek' and 'Days of our Lives'?



I know I've had that feeling - that it's just all too dramatic and ridiculous, and wouldn't it be nice to go and under a nicely-furnished rock for a while? So, whilst I do not promise or claim to be an expert on how teenage boys minds work or how you can uncode your best friend's baffling behaviour, I'll always attempt to empathise and offer some honest words of advice.



I am 21, with a fairly dysfunctional life as a artsy student type. I've recently graduated with a degree in Philosophy, and am spending time working in the law before returning to university for further study. I still don't know what I want to do with my life, but I like where I am at the moment. I like shoes, bad television, chocolate cheescake and pretty things.



I am very busy at the moment, attempting to fund my life as a postgraduate (that's grad school to the Americans). I do still stop by quite a lot to help out with the admin stuff, but my column is pretty lame and inactive. Boo-hiss. I will however still endeavour to answer any questions that are sent my way, so feel free to send questions to my inbox.





Frequently Asked Questions


Actually, I made them up. But they are questions that I've seen more than once around this site (and, indeed, in the real world), and so have created general responses to them, linked below. It's a little sparse at the moment, but I'll be adding to the list as I think of more questions (and, er, answers to them).



Getting back together with an ex



Difficulty preparing for exams

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hailebop





Gender: Female
Location: England
Occupation: Student
Age: 21
Member Since: December 30, 2003
Answers: 455
Last Update: June 7, 2009
Visitors: 55231


Advicenators.com



if someone were to have sex 1-2 days right before her period, is there a big or small chance she would have gotten pregnant?


Short answer: there is a small chance.

Longer answer: the average woman has a 28 day cycle, with her most fertile 'window' on day 14 of her cycle (day 1 being the first day of her period). You are considering sex on day 26 or 27 of a cycle, which is a long way from the most fertile window, which means that there is a relatively low chance of fertilisation.

However, these are *average* figures, which means that whilst they are true for many, they are also *not* representative of a great number of women. Women can and have become pregnant on every day of their menstrual cycle when statistically the odds were stacked against them.

Fertilisation is statistically most likely to happen in the middle of a menstrual cycle, but it can happen at any time because you may have ovulated earlier or later in your cycle, and your cycle may be shorter or longer than average.

Ovulation and the menstrual cycle can be affected by illness, stress, travel and a myriad of other factors. Unless you are very carefully monitoring your own body (signs examined include the position of the cervix, internal body temperature, cervical mucus and others: I stress, this is not a simple process!) you do not know when you have ovulated and cannot accurately predict your fertility window. Even with these signs monitored closely and rigorously, the method of having sex only on 'safe' days is simply not that reliable to use in place of contraception.

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/naturalfamilyplanning.htm , which details some 'natural' family planning methods of examining the menstrual cycle, states that none of these methods are recommended for women for whom pregnancy is totally unacceptable.

This is not to deny the statistical average, but to acknowledge that there is enough of an error margin here that it is simply not worth taking chances unless you are willing to become pregnant.

I hope this is useful information. I don't wish to be alarmist, and hope I have given you a balance between the short answer (statistically you are likely to be okay) and the long answer (this doesn't mean you should do it!).

Ona

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thank you very much. that was helpful and informative.
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