Have I missed something by reading carelessly, or might I sask whethere she has considered an IUD?
The listed failure rate for withdrawal with “perfect use” is 4%. The failure rate for predicting fertility with the post-ovulation method is 1%, with the symptothermal method is 2%, and with the cervical mucus (ovulation) method is 3%, all of which are lower. There are no given rates of failure for the “fertility awareness method”. The only failure rate for any fertility prediction or awareness method that is higher than withdrawal is the calendar, aka “rhythm” method, which amazingly still only has a 9% failure rate. Failure rate for withdrawal with “typical use” is 19%, which is probably more in line with your expectations.
Failure rate for “typical use” for the fertility prediction methods I mentioned is not given.
MsWhatsit, thanks, I can read, even if it isn’t obvious from my post!
I was focused more on the “typical” rates, than the “perfect” rates, because when it comes to sex, I ain’t perfect!
Nonetheless, the list seemed to be listed in order of effectiveness, and on closer inspection, it almost is.
I grant that there are no rates for “Fertility Awareness” (and I’m not quite sure what that even is…). I am still quite surprised to find that Withdrawal, in typical use, is generally so effective.
Not only is it better than the Diaphragm, Cervical Cap, Female Condom, and the Calendar Method, it is not much worse than Male Condoms!
I’m a little confused about what “Periodic Abstinence” is, but I suspect it might be a catch-all category for any of the other Predicting Fertility methods, practiced less than perfectly.
Don’t you, and anyone else, find that shocking, or at least surprising (and counter-intuitive)?
Oh sure, I just wanted to point out the thing about the predictive methods being slightly more effective than “perfect” withdrawal. Of course, there were no “typical” rates listed for the predictive methods, for what that’s worth.
I suspect it is a lot easier to use a condom perfectly than it is to practice withdrawal perfectly, by the way.
Gotcha. And like I said, I ain’t perfect.
But I do hate condoms. Withdrawal doesn’t sound so bad, by comparison. OTOH, I’m not so sure my wife would agree!
Well, only mature sperm can be ejeculated, as they’re stored separately from the developing sperm.
No links, but all of this comes from my textbook from developmental bio (Developmental Biology, Fifth Edition, Scott F. Gilbert, Sinauer Associates Inc, 1997). “In humans, the progression from spermatogonial stem cell to mature sperm takes 65 days.” (p. 857) “…spermatogenesis can occur continuously. Each day, some 100 million sperm are made in each human testicle [x2, remember!], and each ejaculation releases 200 million sperm. Unused sperm are either resorbed or passed out of the body as urine.” (p. 858) The rest is very technical, but basically, that’s an average level of production that can be stepped up if necessary.
Theoretically, this guy’s cutting down on the number of mature ones in storage, but the body’s making them constantly. Even a few hours worth is an awful lot of sperm (six hours = quarter day = an average of 50 million sperm), and that’s just using the averages, not the stepped-up numbers.
It just takes one.
GilaB and everyone else: Thanks! That’s exactly what I was looking for! 