Date of Conception
Pregnancy dating can be confusing and for many reasons, you may want to know exactly how far along you are. You may be considering abortion or checking out abortion alternatives. Dating a pregnancy is also important at times when talking with the father of the baby. He may want to know that the dates make sense in his mind with the timing of conception.
Medical professionals use two terms, gestational age and fertilization age, to talk about the age of the baby.
Most women ovulate in the middle of their monthly cycle, typically around the 14th day after the last period began. Conception (sperm meeting the egg) usually occurs around this date, two weeks after the last menstrual period (lmp).
Gestational Age
Gestational age is the term most used at the doctor’s office, pregnancy center, or abortion clinic. This age includes the two weeks before the fertilization of the egg by the sperm. According to the term gestational age, the first day of your last menstrual period (lmp) is considered the beginning of your pregnancy, even though the baby is not conceived until the 2nd week by this dating.
Fertilization Age
Fertilization age, on the other hand, does not include the time between your last period date and the time of conception. Fertilization age may make more sense to you when you think about the date you got pregnant. For example, a baby that is 7 weeks gestational age is only 5 weeks fertilization age.