FPNSW: Sex Matters: FAQs: I haven't had my period yet and I am 17. I was wondering if I could I still get pregnant if my boyfriend didn't wear a condom?

FAQs

Question

I haven't had my period yet and I am 17. I was wondering if I could I still get pregnant if my boyfriend didn't wear a condom?

Answer

Usually young women's periods will begin when they are somewhere between 11 and 16 years. However, there are many young women who start outside these years who are completely normal, so it may be you just have a delayed starting of your periods.

It would be a good idea to go to your doctor for a check up just to be sure everything is OK. Your doctor will check that you are in the normal height and weight range for your age, because your periods can be affected by being underweight for your height, or overweight. The doctor will also probably order an ultrasound to make sure your ovaries and uterus look normal and a series of blood tests to check the hormones that control your menstrual cycle.

For information about late starting of periods have a look at our Fact Sheet on the menstrual cycle under the paragraph "Amenorrhoea": http://www.fpnsw.org.au/sex-matters/factsheets/48.html

And for the second part of your question, yes, you could possibly get pregnant if you don't use a condom. You might ovulate - produce an egg - at any time. You ovulate about two weeks before your period, so you wouldn't know when this is going to happen if you haven't started having regular periods. Around ovulation time is when you could get pregnant, so you certainly need to use condoms for this.

Condoms are also important to protect you from sexually transmissible infections (STIs). If you or your partner have had sex with anyone else without condoms (vaginal or oral or anal) you could have infections that you could pass on to each other. You could also have check ups to see if you have anything that needs treatment.