Do You Still Ovulate on Birth Control?

In order for a person with a vagina to get pregnant they need to ovulate — the process where an ovary releases an egg. Once this egg is released, it travels down the fallopian tube towards the uterus, where it may or may not join up with a sperm cell. If it does, this results in pregnancy. You may already know this, and you may also already know that birth control works by preventing pregnancy, but it’s actually very common for people to wonder: do you still ovulate on birth control?

The answer is: not usually!

In most cases, a person does not ovulate if they are using hormonal methods like the pill, the patch, the ring, the shot, the IUD, and the implant. These methods work by releasing estrogen and progestin (hormones) into the body, which stops the ovary from releasing an egg (or ovulating). When there’s no egg, there’s no pregnancy.

However, there are ways ovulation can still occur for people who use these methods. For example, if you forget to take your birth control pill one day, you might ovulate because you haven’t introduced any progestin or estrogen into your system, so your body hasn’t gotten the message not to ovulate. There’s also the chance that a person can still ovulate if they’re using a progestin-only methods of birth control (such as the minipill) – in fact, about half the number of people who use a progestin-only method of birth control still ovulate. Additionally, the copper IUD does not prevent ovulation. 

Some people would rather not use hormonal methods of birth control, and that’s an option! Non-hormonal methods of birth control include condoms, diaphragms, or the cervical mucus observation method. However, ovulation still occurs in folks using these methods.

For your specific questions about ovulation, as well as which method of birth control might fit your needs and preferences best, talk to a provider at your nearest The Right Time health center.