Researchers used to think that it was the sperm that did all of the work when it came time to fertilize the egg. However, one day a female researcher discovered that the sperm does not have much to do with the fertilization process. Rather than sitting back and waiting for the sperm to find it, the egg sends out trialing strands of amino acid. When these strands encounter the passing sperm, they hook onto the sperm and reel it in, so that the sperm can penetrate the egg. The best time for this process to occur is during ovulation, which is when one of your ovaries ejects an egg to be fertilized.

Ovulation occurs halfway through a women's cycle, by default the 28-day cycle is used, so it is assumed that you will ovulate on the fourteenth day of your cycle. However, you should keep in mind that while the 28-day cycle is considered standard, it is not true for most women. Because every woman has a different cycle each women is going to need to determine when they ovulate to increase their chances of getting pregnant. It is because of this reason that ovulation calculators are so popular. These calculators allow a woman to determine her infertile days and her most fertile days, which puts you in charge of determining when to get pregnant.

It has been shown that 50% of couples conceive during their first three months of trying to have a bay, 75% of couples conceive within the first six months, and 90% of couples conceive within the first year. In order to increase your chances of conceiving in the first three months you can use an ovulation calculator; in fact, many couples consider this an essential tool for family planning. The reason for this is that it allows you to determine the best time to have sex or the best time to avoid sex, depending on if you are trying to conceive or not.

The main thing that you are going to need to know when using an ovulation calculator is the date of your last menstrual period. The reason for this is that when trying to predict when you ovulate all you need to do is enter in the date of your last menstrual [period and the calculator will give you results based on a 28-day cycle. However, most women have a 28-32 day cycle and ovulation can occur anytime between days 11-21 of the cycle. So in order to get a better idea of when you ovulate, you will need to enter in your last three menstrual cycles.

If you have an irregular cycle or if your cycle is shorter than 21 days or longer than 35 days then ovulation calculators are not going to be your best choice. The reason for this is that they rely on your cycle being regular to pinpoint when you ovulate. All that ovulation calculators do is subtract 14 days from the first day of your last period to give you the best date that you are going to be most fertile. If there is any irregularity to your periods, then this number is not going to mean anything. If you have an irregular cycle or a shorter or longer cycle than most women, your best choice is to learn the signs of ovulation.

Here is an example of how to use an ovulation calculator.

Step one:
Enter in the first day of your last period.

Step two:
Adjust the number of days in your cycle. The default for this number is going to be 28, so if yours is shorter or longer you need to make the correct adjustment.

Step three:
Press the calculate now button to get your results.

Using an ovulation calculator is simple; however, the results you get are going to depend on the type of ovulation calculator that you are using. Some calculators are simply going to give you one date, which is going to be the time that you are most fertile. Other ovulation calculators are going to provide you with a full calendar of information that pertains to your menstrual cycle. Here is an example of an ovulation calculator result.

• 12/1/08 - First day of your last period
• 12/10/08 - Very beginning of your fertile period. The egg has not yet been released, but it is possible that the sperm could survive until the egg was released.
• 12/11/08 - This is two days before ovulation, there is a high chance that you could conceive on this day.
• 12/12/08 - Only one more day until ovulation. Your fertility on this date is very high, which increases your chances of conceiving.
• 12/13/08 - This is your day of ovulation based on the first day of your last period. You are most fertile on this day; it is the day your egg is released. Today is your best chance of getting pregnant.

• 12/14/08 - One day after ovulation, you are still fertile so it is possible for you to conceive on this day.
• 12/15/08 - Two days after ovulation and your fertility is decreasing. The reason for this is that the egg only survives for about 24 hours before it starts to disintegrate.
• 12/20/08 - If your egg was fertilized this is the approximate date that the egg implanted itself into the uterus.
• 12/21/08 - If you take a blood pregnancy test, you should get accurate results from this day forward.
• 12/23/08 - Early home pregnancy tests might be accurate as of this date. However, you can still get a false negative result because the levels of hCG are not high enough for the pregnancy test to read.
• 12/27/08 - If you are not pregnant this is the date that you will get your next period. If you are pregnant from this date forward, you will get positive home pregnancy test results.
• 9/7/09 - If you became pregnant in this cycle, this would be the due date for your baby.
• date of your last menstrual period, which is the first day of bleeding. It then uses