Pregnancy begins when a male and a female gender meet sexually with no protection. 

For pregnancy to occur, an egg must be released during ovulation by the female gender and it must be fertilized by a sperm cell from the male gender.

This simply means that pregnancy happens when a man’s sperm fertilises a woman’s egg, which can happen even without penetrative sex. 

Also, note that only a tiny fraction of the sperm that entered the vagina make it to the fallopian tube for fertilisation. 

The risk of getting pregnant without penetrative sex is low, however, it cannot be ruled out. For instance, if you or your partner have semen or pre-ejaculate on your fingers and touch your vagina, your partner ejaculates near your vagina, you may be at risk of getting pregnant.

The process: Ovulation, fertilisation, and implantation

Every 28 days or so, one mature egg is released from the ovaries. This process is called ovulation. After the egg is released, it moves into the fallopian tube where it stays for about 24 hours.

If the egg is not fertilized during that time, the egg disintegrates (breaks down) and menstruation (your period) begins 11-16 days later.

The second stage is fertilisation. 

Here the male’s sperm makes its way into the woman’s body through the female’s vagina, then travels through her cervix and womb to the fallopian tubes, where an egg is fertilised (conception). 

If the fertilized egg successfully travels down the fallopian tube and implants in the uterus, an embryo starts growing.

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Also, advanced technology can also be used to fertilize an egg, either by artificial insemination (inserting semen into the female’s body) or by fertilizing an egg outside the body and then placing it into the uterus.

But not all fertilized eggs successfully implant. If the egg is not fertilized or does not implant, the woman’s body sheds the egg and the endometrium. This shedding causes bleeding in a woman’s menstrual period. 

Implantation: At the implantation period, if the fertilized egg successful travels down the fallopian tube and implants in the lining of the uterus, conception happens. Conception takes up to 2-3 weeks after sex for pregnancy to happen. The fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus and pregnancy begins.

Most eggs are fertilized by sperm while still in the fallopian tube. The fertilized egg then travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus.

This can take 1-2 days. When the egg reaches the uterus, it may attach itself to the uterine lining (the endometrium) and pregnancy will begin. 

Many fertilized eggs are never implanted and are flushed out of the body with the next period. When there is conception, signs such as breast changes and nausea occur in a woman’s body, also meaning that pregnancy has begun.