Don’t throw your condoms out yet. There are still STD’s to worry about, but withdrawal seems to be just as effective as condoms when it comes to preventing pregnancy:
Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute studied the results of several recent national surveys and found that if a couple uses withdrawal perfectly (pulling out before the first shot is fired) they face a 4% chance of pregnancy within the year. Imperfect use (leaving even a smidgen of sperm behind) leads to a 17% chance of pregnancy. For some perspective, condoms offer 2% and 15% pregnancy rates for perfect and imperfect use (click here to learn more about how condoms are made and tested.) The reason withdrawal is effective: Pre-ejaculatory fluid contains only trace amounts of sperm—which lowers the likelihood that a woman will become pregnant if a man doesn’t finish inside her, says study author Rachel Jones, Ph.D.
I mean, if you think about, I don’t think this study is all that shocking. While I know of a couple of guys who impregnated women with their pre-ejaculate sperm, that’s rare. Those guys just had super sperm. If you looked at them hard enough you would become pregnant.
One guy his ish ate through condoms and defied birth control pills as he had women pregnant who were using both. The point I’m making however is that that’s rare. Most women aren’t walking around with super sperm. And since there is only roughly a 48 hour period you can get pregnant each month, if you whip it out every time, you should be okay.
Now I don’t recommend using withdrawal because obviously no condom means no protection with STD’s. But I think it’s always interesting to have sexual common knowledge turned on its head.
