Can condoms fail unknowingly?

[10oclocknews]

Ok, so I'm married with 2 children and after 20 years of being on the pill we've decided to use condoms as my body began to have issues with the pill. I wanted a break from hormones. I've a history of irregular periods and often skip the odd month here and there. Since I came off the pill last year however I've had a pretty accurate 32 day cycle......until May this year when my periods stopped. I've not been too concerned about this as it has happened in the past, however we are now in sept and still no period. I've no pregnancy symptoms and as far as I know we've had no '"leaks'. It'd be pretty obvious if there had been right???? Obviously the answer lies in a pregnancy test which I'm now going to do before going to the doctor to ensure nothing is wrong. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had an accident unknowingly when using condoms properly. Can it really go unnoticed??? Thanks

[coffeetasteslikeshit]

A quick Google tells me that when used properly, condoms are 98% effective.
Looks like you could be one of the unlucky 2%

[BertieBotts]

I don't think she was asking if they can fail, I think she was asking if they can fail without a split or tear being apparent.

I have often wondered this but never had reason to actually check.

[FTS123]

Yep, he's nearly 6 now

[scaevola]

Yes, the 98 rate is the fail rate with apparent perfect use.

The fail rate when you know you've had splits/slips is way lower (around 78 IIRC)

[teainbed]

Well my work includes family planning and the 'give my body a break from the hormones' is a very common time to get pregnant in my experience. Condoms can fail without a noticeable leak as others have said. You need to do a test obviously but the other thing is that your cycle off the pill could be completely different than the one you've had on the pill or your pill could have been masking the cycle and periods you should have had all those years you were on it.

[Nuggy2013]

I've been one of the 2%... DD is now 2.

[JoandMax]

Yes, I had this recently. We had no idea, everything had seemed fine! Unfortunately the pregnancy wasn't to be but it can happen......