Q&A: How Do I Know If I Have Lost My Virginity Or Not?

QUESTION: How do I know if I have lost my virginity or not because I am not bleeding after I had sex. Also, it didn’t really hurt when I had sex for the first time. I am scared that there is something wrong with me because I have been trying for 2 months to conceive with no success.

It sounds like you consider penile-vaginal intercourse to count as “sex” and that’s what most heterosexual people count as losing their virginity, though some people occasionally think of having oral sex or anal sex as losing one’s virginity. The bottom line is that if you’ve had sex, then you’ve lost your virginity – even if you didn’t bleed from your vagina after sex.

Not all women bleed after sex. When women bleed after having sex for the first or second time, it’s usually because their hymen – which is a thin layer of tissue covering part of the vaginal opening – has torn.

Some women have a very thin hymen or may have had their hymen wear thinner over the years. As a result, when they have sex, they don’t bleed.

It sounds like your bigger concern is about becoming pregnant. You may find it reassuring to know that it often takes women and their partners several months to conceive. Typically, doctors and nurses don’t consider a couple to be having fertility problems unless they have tried to become pregnant for a full year and still not conceived. Using an ovulation kit can help you to better understand when you are close to ovulating so that you can plan to have intercourse around those days.

Some doctors recommend that couples have sex every other day around this time so as to maximize a man’s sperm count. Having sex too often can reduce the number of sperm in his ejaculation. If you have questions about becoming pregnant, I would encourage you to ask your doctor or nurse for more information about becoming pregnant. But again – it often takes several months for couples to become pregnant and often up to a year of trying. You can learn more about pregnancy and conception on websites like PlannedParenthood.com and BabyCenter.com. I hope this is helpful and best wishes with starting your family.

The Marvelous Connection Between Sex and Pregnancy