Can You Ovulate More Than Once a Month?

When you’re planning to conceive, keeping track of your ovulation cycle becomes important as it can help you figure out the days on which you’re most fertile. While most women do have an idea of the days when their ovulation is at its peak, some of them tend to observe that they may ovulate twice within the same cycle. And realising that you ovulate more than once a month can be a game-changer. So, you must know if you can ovulate more than once a month or not, especially when trying to have a baby. Understanding your reproductive cycle will help and increase your chances of conceiving. Let’s find out more about this!

What Is the Typical Timeline for Ovulation in the Menstrual Cycle?

As you already know that ovulation is the time when you are most fertile or when your cervix produces a thin cervical fluid that lubricates and helps the sperm to travel towards the egg faster. Typically, ovulation happens only once in every menstrual cycle, generally around day 14 of your cycle. During this time:

• The ovaries will produce egg-carrying cells, known as follicles.
• These egg-carrying cells enable the production of a fertile egg.
• Once the sperm reaches the egg, fertilisation takes place, resulting in pregnancy.

Can You Ovulate More Than Once in a Cycle?

One of the major proponents of postulating multiple ovulations within a single cycle seemed to stem from a study that was conducted on a group of women. It put forward the result that women could ovulate twice or even thrice within a month. However, the group that was used to conduct the study was small. It was also observed that women tend to form the necessary follicles in phases, instead of all of them together at the same time. Whether these multiple phases of follicle development meant multiple ovulations or not, has still yet to be determined.

That being said, there are very few women who might observe multiple ovulations within a cycle. Most of the times, more than one egg is released but only within a span of 24 hours or so.

What Are the Factors That Increase the Probability of Women Ovulate More Than Once a Month?

Now that you know that you can ovulate more than once a month, let’s take a look at the factors that increase the probability of women to ovulate for more than once time in a month. These include:

• Physical, emotional and lifestyle factors
• Undergoing infertility treatment
• Family history

Can a Woman Release Two Eggs in One Cycle?

Only one ovulation can happen in one cycle. However, you can ovulate two (or more) eggs at the same time. In this situation, there is the potential to conceive non-identical twins if both eggs are fertilised. But no two separate eggs are released at different times within the same cycle.

What to Do If You Are Keen to Track Dual Ovulation in a Single Month?

You can track dual ovulation in a single month with the help of a reputed fertility specialist. They’ll help you analyse your ovulation pattern if you are planning to conceive. Alternatively, you can use an at-home ovulation predictor kit to detect impending ovulation.

Can You Get Positive Ovulation Test More Than Once in a Cycle?

At times, many women tend to put forward the results of their ovulation tests as proof of ovulating multiple times in a single cycle. But biology rarely lies. This is due to the way the test functions, and not the result of multiple ovulations. For an ovulation test, the kit is used to measure the percentage of the luteinizing hormone, also known as LH. If this hormone is detected in substantial quantities, the ovulation test gives a positive result.

However, the production of the hormone does not necessarily mean that your ovaries have released an egg. Your body does tend to prepare itself to release an egg multiple times in a month, but it does so only during a single phase of the entire cycle. Which is why it is necessary to know that multiple ovulation tests do not necessarily mean multiple eggs being released.

What Is Hyperovulation?

Hyperovulation is different from multiple ovulations. In hyperovulation, the ovaries tend to release more than one egg within the single cycle. This could end up in resulting a sperm to fertilize multiple eggs, which is how women find themselves pregnant with twins or triplets, and in rare cases, more than that. It tends to be genetic within families, causing families with existing twins and triplets to have the same for their own daughters.

What Causes Hyperovulation?

It has been discussed in various forums that chances of hyperovulation after a miscarriage are affected or so. However, there are a few major reasons why hyperovulation might occur, as described below.

1. Termination of Birth Control

When women on birth control stop doing so either to get pregnant or for other reasons, the body takes a while to readjust the menstrual cycle and streamline it. This may cause the ovaries to release multiple eggs at the same time, which is generally beneficial if you are trying to get pregnant.

2. Existing Medical Conditions

For women who experienced polycystic ovarian problems like PCOS or PCOD, missing a menstrual cycle does tend to occur as a result of it. This is why when the normal cycle resumes, the ovaries release the pending egg of the previous cycle along with the current one.

3. Ongoing Medical Treatment

Generally observed in women who are in the process of donating their eggs or undergoing in-vitro fertilization, hyperovulation is usually a result of it. Stimulating hormones are injected during this process for her to produce multiple eggs, which are then extracted and stored.

4. Hereditary Reasons

Genes play an important role in deciding various bodily processes. Hyperovulation is one of those too, resulting in families who tend to have twins consistently in their maternal side.

Signs and Symptoms of Hyperovulation

Hyperovulation sometimes occurs even when a woman may not be aware that it is happening. A few women, however, have experienced various signs when it happens.

• Hyperovulation pain is a major effect that women experience when it takes place. This is different from the usual menstrual pain or when ovulation takes place in a normal form since the body releases more than one egg.
• The discharge that occurs from the cervix, which is a little white, sticky and stretchy in nature, tends to be more than normally observed.
• The day-wise distribution of the cycle can be demarcated as 2-3 days of ovulation, which also include the mucus being fertile for those days. This is observed with a gap of about 3 days within the cycle.

Hyperovulation cannot be easily detected using ovulation kits or may not necessarily occur by having certain hyperovulation foods. Undergoing an ultrasound to detect the presence of multiple follicles is the only way to surmise that. Having multiple eggs might be painful for you but it does increase the chances of having twins or triplets, which can be quite a delight for some families.

What Are Some General Measures That Can Be Helpful to Follow During Ovulation?

We have mentioned some measures below that’ll be helpful for you when followed during ovulation.

• Your cervix will produce a clear thin liquid that stretches between the index finger and thumb.
• You should calculate your fertile days based on the onset of your monthly period cycle.
• You must keep track of the body temperature while ovulating.

FAQs

1. How Many Days After Your Period Does Ovulation Start?

Ovulation usually occurs between 12 to 14 days before your next period starts.

2. Does Ovulation Happen on the Same Day Every Month?

No, ovulation does not happen on the same day every month. It can occur any time during days 11-21 of a menstrual cycle. Ovulation can last for 16 to 32 hours.

3. Do You Ovulate More As You Get Older?

It is highly unlikely to ovulate more as you age. This is because women have a fixed number of eggs in their ovaries, whose number may decrease as they get older.

So, yes, a woman may ovulate more than once a month. Make sure to keep track of your ovulation to figure out the best time to get pregnant.

References/Resources:

1. Owen Dyer; Women may ovulate two or three times a month; National Library of Medicine; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1126506/; July 2003

2. Women may ovulate more than once a month; progress.org.uk; https://www.progress.org.uk/women-may-ovulate-more-than-once-a-month/

3. Pregnancy – identifying fertile days; medlineplus.gov; https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007015.htm

4. How to get pregnant; mayoclinic.org; https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/how-to-get-pregnant/art-20047611

5. Ovulation; my.clevelandclinic.org; https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23439-ovulation

6. Ovulation and fertility; betterhealth.vic.gov.au; https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/ovulation

7. Having a Baby After Age 35: How Aging Affects Fertility and Pregnancy; acog.org; https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/having-a-baby-after-age-35-how-aging-affects-fertility-and-pregnancy

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