Could my fertility be bad?

[Runningandhungry]

Okay, me and my husband have been together for 11 years, married for 3. We have been having unprotected sex for 9 years but he pulls out. We would be happy if I got pregnant right now, but it's not the right time, so we won't start trying until end of next year probably. But in those 9 years, I've had one chemical pregnancy and nothing else. Does it sound right that the pull out method is that effective? I've not been on any contraceptive in that time. It just makes me worried for my fertility that I haven't become accidentally pregnant in that amount of time! Does anyone have any similar experiences and then become pregnancy easily when finally ttc?

For the first two years I had the implant, forgot to mention that.

Depends how often you have sex? There is only a small window in the month when you're likely to conceive.

@crimsonripple we have sex probably about three times a week roughly, maybe two times a week when I'm extra tired haha. But we regularly have sex during my fertile window. Sometimes everyday. We truly do not mind if I was to become pregnant, it would be such a positive thing, but not actively trying obviously which is why he withdraws! But I just worry for when we do properly ttc

How old are you OP? I'd say even if the time isn't exactly right it might be a good idea to stop withdrawing and see what happens

@justmaybenot I'm only 28 so still got plenty of time. We got together young and we're irresponsible with contraception when we were younger I.e him pulling out from the age of 19, but now we're older and married and would be very happy to start a family but I'm in my final year of my degree so I think us ttc now might not be the best idea, although we'd be thrilled and it would be wonderful, I'd rather wait if I can. But I see what you're saying, it could take us a long time to conceive.

*were not we're

Ah I see - get on with your studies and hopefully once the time is right you'll be ok. I imagine it would be hard to assess your fertility unless you were having fully unprotected sex.

@Runningandhungry so my husband and I used the oull out method for around 7 years and I was convinced if we ever start TTC we won't be successful. Turns out after one month actively trying that it DOES work, got pregnant immediately. Don't worry too much.

Pull out is quite effective if used correctly every time. The problem is it's less effective in general because it's not used effectively/mistakes/cross contamination etc. You should be fine.

Thanks for your reassuring replies! Hopefully things will be okay when we finally start our journey next year!

I'm so glad you posted about this!! I'm in exactly the same position. Haven't been on contraception since the age of 20 maybe?! (Im soon to be 31!) me and my partner have relied on the pull out method since we were 20 and not had any scares in the last 10 years. We often dtd during my fertile window. Like you OP, It got me wondering whether we might have problems (we're both really healthy so no other reason to think we wouldn't be able to get pregnant). we're due to start TTC soon so I'll report back if we fall pregnant quickly!

Forgot to add... I spoke to a friend about it and she told me her and her husband had relied on the pull out method for 2 years before they then started TTC. She got pregnant on the second month of trying and now has a beautiful baby!

@kitty1993 oooh thank you for your reply! Yeah we were 19 when we stopped using anything! Its interesting how many people rely on the pull out method! I feel like people don't talk about it much. Good luck for your ttc journey!! Got everything crossed for you!!!