Is sex safe at 4 weeks pregnant following IVF?

[milly26x]

Hi ladies so I found out a week ago that I’m pregnant following IVF which puts me at 4weeks pregnant now, been looking online and a lot of the information is really old. So does anyone know if it’s safe to have sex at 4 weeks pregnant or following IVF or will this disrupt the embryo?

I've had IVF twice and told no sex for two weeks post transfer. After that fine. Congratulations!

Have to say with the progesterone pessaries I definitely didn't want to but it is safe!

@dancingdolphinsagain thank you! is that what the clinic said to you 14 days? they haven’t said anything about it to me they are phoning me monday as that’s my official test date even though i’ve been testing positive myself for 8 days lol so i can always check with them monday

I'm currently 7w+1, my wife and I had our transfer on 24th August. Our clinic said no sex after transfer and didn't give a timeline. Once you've had a decent test nothing you do is going to dislodge baby as such, non-IVF couples don't have to refrain from sex. Once we had reached two weeks we resumed normal activities although we were more careful than normal as the progesterone can make your cervix sensitive and cause spotting which I didn't want to risk as I knew it would make me anxious.

@MrsRubyMonday congratulations! Yeah mine didn’t say not to or a timeline or anything and it’s not on my paperwork. Monday is my official test date and Tuesday will be exactly 2 weeks since my transfer so i’ll probably wait until Tuesday or something or ask them when they phone me Monday for my result. Been testing positive for the past 8 days very strong dark lines now and clearblue digi 2-3 weeks. I would be the same worried if i had any spotting x

Sex won't cause any issues at this point, the embryo is tucked away safely in your uterus and a penis definitely won't be going up there! You may get a bit of bleeding as your cervix is very vascular during pregnancy. Some people do, some don't. If anything does happen going forwards it won't be related to you having sex. As others have said we were advised not to between transfer and OTD but restarted pretty soon after I had a positive test. Did find it a bit weird the first few times but quickly got over it!

@MGee123 thanks for your reply, did you wait until official test date then? mine is 13 days post transfer but i’ve been having very strong positive tests for a week now already, my official test date is Monday when they will be calling me. I know it can’t reach up there haha just worries you when you see online about uterus contractions etc makes you worry you’re going to upset the embryo 😫 if i had any blood that would definitely freak me out tbh. I’ll be finding it weird the first few times too haha x

These are my tests from this morning i’m 11dp5dt official test date isn’t until monday but been having stronger lines each morning so i’m kind of convinced embryo is implanted properly but still worries me about affecting it 🤦🏻‍♀️ lol

I think we did wait just to be on the safe side. But I can't imagine it would cause any issues - people with non-IVF pregnancies don't have to abstain and your embryo has clearly implanted! Congratulations, hope all goes well for you 😀

@MGee123 so confusing on what to do isnt it lol and it’s true other couples don’t have to abstain so why would it be different for us but we have extra worry lol. Thank you so much I really hope it has

[quote milly26x]@dancingdolphinsagain thank you! is that what the clinic said to you 14 days? they haven’t said anything about it to me they are phoning me monday as that’s my official test date even though i’ve been testing positive myself for 8 days lol so i can always check with them monday[/quote]
Yep both times they said the same.

We were told to abstain for at least 12 weeks, but that's with additional risk factors for complications so I'd imagine the usual advice is for a shorter period. Your clinic might be able to give you more specific advice if you ask?

@Scirocco oh wow 12 weeks when did they tell you that? was it after your scan they found complications? i haven’t got any fertility problems or concerns tbh everything went smoothly we just needed mild IVF/icsi as my husband’s tubes are blocked it wasn’t because of any issues with me if that makes any difference

Hi, we were told that before starting, due to a history of recurrent miscarriages (unexplained), so we knew going into it that we'd need to. I was also on progesterone for 12 weeks and couldn't do any physical exercise other than gentle walking - that was really hard as I love cycling, jogging, hillwalking... It's been worth it though as I've made it to 20 weeks now which is the furthest we've managed ever.

@Scirocco oh bless you congratulations! I’ll have to see what they say on monday when they ring about my official date hopefully tests stay positive until then. Did you find that the progesterone has really made the difference with this cycle then to get you through the early stage?

I think it has - the evidence is weaker for progesterone in people without a history of recurrent miscarriages but for people with three or more there's quite good evidence of a clinical benefit. Good luck!

Congratulations! The embryo is safe now so sex is not going to affect it.