impregnation

[Reshbod]

I'm working on an impregnation story and have a couple of questions:
1. What is the shortest (approx) time period from having sex to knowing you are pregnant?

2. If you have sex with more than one partner within 1 to several weeks, is there any way to know who it was, without resorting to DNA testing down the line.

Thanks

 

[elib257]

I'm working on an impregnation story and have a couple of questions:
1. What is the shortest (approx) time period from having sex to knowing you are pregnant?

2. If you have sex with more than one partner within 1 to several weeks, is there any way to know who it was, without resorting to DNA testing down the line.

Thanks

Just to point out I've never been pregnant so I very well could be wrong.

1. As far as I know the quickest time somebody would know is when their period starts, or should. Either they'd miss it, take a test and then know. Or they'd be trying and I think that's about the time people try. I only guess this because of the new 'find out if you're pregnant a whole 6 days before your period is due' type of pregnancy tests.

2. This one I'm a little more sure about. You would never know. Well, unless one of the men were black and the other white - then it would be fairly obvious, but i don't think that's the case all of the time. It is said that babies look most like their dads when they first come out, there've been various explanations but I like the one that it's to stop the dad worrying about the females infedelity. Anyway, there is no way of KNOWING, hair colour, eye colour, stature and what not just aren't conclusive in babies.

 

[emap]

For the first one what she said.

Second one it depends, two guys same day no way to tell besides a DNA test. Same problem with two different during the same week. After that though the doctor can give you the information you need to know after a couple months I think. They look at the development of said baby and tell you within a week when you conceived and about when your due.

 

[sunandshadow]

Some women have a lot more regular cycles than others. A woman with a cycle like clockwork who knew when her last period was would be able to guess a 5-day peroid during which she would be fertile, and that a week before or after she wouldn't be fertile. Also someone trying to conceive might keep track of their temperature because it fluctuates at ovulation. Also some women start getting morning sickness almost immediately, or otherwise feel that something isn't quite normal with their body. None of this is reliable in real life, but you can make it believable enough for a story.

 

[Angellika]

If someone has been having sex with more that one guy and she gets pregnant, there is no way of knowing who the father is...

You have to wait for your period to be sure if you are pregnant.

 

[VelvetDarkness]

A friend of mine experienced nausea and breast tenderness before her period was due and therefore suspected she was pregnant only 3 weeks after she conceived (according to the calculated due date).

A urine test can detect a pregnancy within a couple of weeks.

DNA testing can be carried out before a baby is born. It would require an amniocentesis where fluid is taken from the amniotic sack that the foetus sits in. It contains cells belonging to the child (in the same way a mouth swab picks up cheek cells) which can be tested for paternity. I believe this is possible after the first trimester (3 months) when the foetus is large enough to risk such an invasive test and sitting in a reasonable quantity of fluid. Blood can also be taken from the umbilical cord and tested.

There would really be no way of calculating who was the father if sex with each man was only a week apart. Due dates are always an estimate and can be inaccurate by up to 7 days in either direction. If there was a fortnight or more between sexual partners, it would be possible to make an educated guess but either man could still theoretically be the parent.

And as sunandshadow says, this is all assuming that the woman's periods are regular. If they're all over the place then it's difficult to guess when she might have ovulated.

 

[infinity706]

1 It's really quite a bit variable from less than a week to even a few weeks.

2 If you're a geneticist and know all the characteristics, there will probably be some trait that the woman and one of the guys is recessive in and the other guy has dominant. If the child ends up with the dominant characteristic, then you know who the father is. We're talking significantly after the baby is born to figure out that way in some cases, though. Basically, yes, there is a way without a DNA test, but chances are, you'd have to consult an expert in human DNA. It would probably be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[CWatson]

I thought I saw an ad somewhere for pee-on-a-stick pregnancy tests that work within like a couple of days of ovulation. It can take that long for sperm to work their way up to the egg and for the now-fertilized egg to work its way down, before finally hooking into the uterine wall and causing the hormonal changes which is what aforementioned pee-on-a-stick pregnancy tests measure--so I don't know how scientifically valid such a claim is. Besides, we know companies will say anything to sell their products.

Obviously, you could include such "instant" tests in your story if you wanted, even if they don't exist in real life; that's what poetic license is for. (I wrote a story wherein a DNA test that normally takes at least overnight was shortened to twenty minutes, because the drama played better that way. Heck, my main character winked at the audience by wondering how they'd done it so fast.)

As to the rest of it: search me. I'm a guy, hot babe in my AV notwithstanding, and haven't ever gotten pregnant before. I'm still young though. There's time.