Yes, You Can Totally Get Pregnant From Standing Up Sex & Here's Why

I remember in my tiny religious high school (wherein no birth control was mentioned), talking to my girlfriends about how to avoid pregnancy included some pretty far-fetched methods. And sex while standing was definitely brought up as a possibility. I mean, gravity, right? But can you get pregnant from standing up sex, or is it just the high school girls' equivalent of an old wives' tale?

I am 6 feet tall. The idea of standing sex seems like a fun one, but it's something I rarely engage in because of my height. It's just not so simple for me, and I have a really long way to fall down if my partner drops me in the middle or I lose my balance. Because I'm not naturally given to graceful maneuvering and have broken several bones in my life and sprained every joint there is to sprain, I feel like it's just tempting fate to be so distracted while trying to maintain my balance.

But, can you get pregnant from standing up sex and not just end up terribly injured, permanently scarred, or with a damaged wall?

According to Planned Parenthood, you can absolutely get pregnant if you have sex while standing. Gravity means nothing to your partner's swimmers, so if you're trying to conceive, and need a little variety, put some pillows on the floor around you and go for it.

Sperm are sticky little tadpoles that find their way to your cervix whether you want them to or not, noted Neumors Health System. Even if some were to escape the confines of your vagina, it only takes one determined swimmer to fertilize your egg.

According to Columbia University, your partner doesn't even need to fully ejaculate into you to get you pregnant. There is sperm in their pre-ejaculate, so if you're relying on standing plus pull and pray, pray really, really hard and maybe consider the morning after pill. If you're trying to conceive, this is good news — the more soldiers swimming to shore, the better, right? Otherwise, suit up, and boot and rally.