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Is it possible to ovulate early in a long cycle?

3 fertility expert(s) answered this question

Can you ovulate early with a long cycle?

Many women typically ovulate around 12 to 14 days after the first day of their last period, but some have a naturally short cycle. Studies have shown that ovulation can happen between 6 to 19 days and for this reason the fertile window is not as easy to predict without help.

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Answer from the fertility expert:
Kate Davies, Independent Fertility Nurse Consultant & Coach at Fertility Industry Consultancy & Podcast Co-Host

Most likely your ovulation and long cycle will be later and that’s because the time from ovulation to your next period, which is known as the luteal phase, is pretty consistent. It’s always going to be between 10 and 16 days. Once you’ve ovulated 10 to 16 days later, you will have a period. In contrast, the follicular phase which is the phase from your first day of your period to ovulation, can move around. That can be shorter or it can be longer and if you normally have a very regular 28-day cycle for example but then suddenly find that your cycle is longer, it means that something has stopped ovulation or delayed ovulation and that can be simple things like traveling, illness, having a temperature, taking a new medication, taking change in your routine. There are so many factors that can cause that and generally they’re temporary nothing to be concerned about.

Answer from the fertility expert:
Leo Martinez, Chief Scientific Officer, Pearl Fertility by Colorimetrix GmbH

As I mentioned there are possibilities depending on the hormones so there are certain conditions that could cause an LH peak to come early. There is research that has shown cycles with multiple LH peaks so at least two, for example: one can come at the beginning of the cycle in a long cycle and one a little later. In theory, it is possible. The best is to check and to check you can use a progesterone test in urine- to check whether that peak corresponds to an ovulatory peak or not and then to prove actually that your ovulation is coming sort of earlier than normal.

Answer from the fertility expert:
Christos Kleanthis, Obstetrician and Reproductive Gynecologist

It is quite probable that if you have a long cycle, you have ovulated early in that cycle. Usually a long cycle means ovulation later in the cycle since we know that the most predicted period of time of the cycle is the time after ovulation which lasts 14 days. The earlier you ovulate, the shorter your cycle will be. The later you ovulate, the longer your cycle will be.

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