Can ovulation happen later than the flo app predicts

[Honey6743]

Has anyone ever ovulated after what the flo app said? I’m constantly missing my fertile window. I had sex in cycle day 15 and I just cannot see that I’m going to even fall this cycle

Are you tracking temps or doing ovulation tests? Otherwise Flo will just be guessing when you’re ovulating based on cycle lengths, with no other data to support.
I always found Fertility Friend a more reliable tool, it’s simple but effective. Two pregnancies from it!!
Also, you probably need to try and have sex more than once per cycle.

Of course, if you're not doing anything else like temp tracking or LH tests then the app just predicts it based on 14 days before when it expects your period to start.

When I started using LH strips I learnt that I ovulate much later, around day 18/19. There's no way an app on its own would know that

How many day cycles are you normally?

No I am just tracking through flo

we do normally have sex more in cycles it’s just timing wise for this one only happens once thats all

Yes, definitely. An app cannot possibly know what’s going on internally. It does a prediction based on being roughly in the middle of your typical cycles. I started doing ovulation tests when trying for DC2 and definitely found I ovulated later than my window when I did finally conceive. I also found that the cheap sticks you can buy in bulk on amazon (can’t remember the brand but it was something quite popular on here at the time) didn’t work very well. I got a clear peak on the boots ones in the cycle I conceived.

Then Flo is just guessing, really! If you want to figure out why you’re missing ovulation then I would recommend temping (BBT) and/or ovulation strips otherwise you could keep missing it.

I had very long cycle before my first, and was ovulating very late in these cycles. Then for second, really short cycles (like 22/23 days) and was ovulating about one or two days after my period ended.

I wouldn’t have known anything but my cycle lengths and probably would’ve taken a lot longer to conceive that way.

It can be hard to find the time to try all the time hahaha

Best of luck!

What makes you say you keep missing your fertile period?

Even if you get the fertile period perfectly, there is still only about a 20% chance of pregnancy per cycle, so don't stress if it's not happening straight away.

If you want to know when you ovulate then you need to track signs of it, whether that's cervical mucus, ovulation tracking test strips, or basal body temperature (BBT). After about 3-4 months you should have enough data to know what your usual pattern is, so if you don't fall pregnant within that time period at least you'll have more info to work with.

I agree that Fertility Friend is the best of the free apps. A lot of apps like Flo look prettier but they are less accurate. Fertility Friend is retro but it's packed with valuable info which is free to access. Their mini course is excellent.

It’s just because google & chat gpt both say cycle day 15 in a 25-27 cycle is out of the fertile window so I just guess I keep missing it. And also because even when I’ve had sex 3/4 time in my fertile window I’ve still not fallen

It doesnt matter what the app or chat gpt is telling you, they simply cannot tell you when your ovulating.
Cycle length doesnt really matter as you can ovulate earlier or later and have a short or long luteal.
If you want to know when your ovulating, you need to be testing with ovulation tests.
You can also have sex at the perfect time and still not get pregnant. For many, it doesnt happen straight away

I found from ovulation tests and bbt that I actually ovulate REALLY soon after I get a positive ovulation test.

Once I started making sure that we were starting before a positive test I got pregnant twice in a year.

Sadly lost the first one early, and currently 30 weeks with second.

Not saying this is the same for you OP, but we all have slight differences in our biological cycle that are worth understanding deeper when TTC.

Sorry to hear about the first one, but a massive congratulations with your second one!!

thank you for the comment too x

Agree - ChatGPT etc can't tell you whether you are fertile or not because your cycle length is not enough information to answer the question. But it won't say that, it will just try to give an answer which sounds as though it might be correct. It's not necessarily correct though.

More than half of couples need more than 4 cycles to conceive, so don't stress. If you only have one shot and no information, it probably makes sense to try to aim for cycle days 10-13 or 11-16 if you have more opportunity. But if you want to know for sure when you ovulate, the tracking methods are better.

You want to be having lots of sex in the days before ovulation so the sperm is sat waiting for the egg.

Flo app is useless as a general cycle predictor I find so wouldn’t trust it with anything to do with fertility. If you have a 27 day cycle you want to be having sex from day 7 to about 18 but if you want more accuracy then ovulation sticks and temping should help

Ovulation tests are the way forward here, the app is just using population averages and your actual ovulation won't be the same every cycle even when comparing against your own cycle history.

BBT tracking can also be helpful but honestly just get a pack of tests, test from day 10 to 20 ish and see for yourself.