Can you get pregnant or get someone else pregnant via anal sex?
The short answer: Yes.
Here are three ways this is possible:
- Sperm swims from the anus to the vagina.
- There is a hole in the tissue separating the vagina and the rectum.
- The rectum is directly connected to the uterus.
Pregnancy traditionally occurs when a penis inserted into the vagina ejaculates sperm there. The egg makes the journey to the egg, which is comparable to you running a marathon. Some sperm, however, are training for the Iron Man. There have been cases of sperm ejaculated onto a person’s underwear or inner thigh has led to a pregnancy. Sperm has been known to swim from the vulva or vaginal opening and into the vaginal canal. They can even swim from the perineum into the vaginal canal. It is unlikely, however, that sperm could swim up and out of the anus, across the perineum and into the vagina. What is more likely is that sperm ejaculated into the anus comes back out and is moved closer to the vulva where it can make its way into the vagina.
Some people are born with direct pathways from the vaginal canal to the rectum. These are called fistulas and there are 2 different types. Recto-vesicular fistulas, wherein the hole is closer to the vaginal opening, and recto-vaginal fistulas, wherein the hole is anywhere along the vaginal canal. You can be born with these fistulas or they can be developed from an injury to the area. Childbirth, Krohn’s disease, cancer and cancer radiation treatment can all injure the area and create fistulas. It is not a likely route to pregnancy, but it is possible.
Birds expel waste from a single hole called the cloaca. This hole is also used for procreation. In comparison, women have 3 separate holes – the urethra for urine, the anus for fecal matter and the vagina for procreation. In some women, these holes fuse together forming a cloaca. In medical terms, it is called a persistent cloaca or anorectal malformation. Upon diagnosis, surgery is performed to separate the cloaca back into the 3 separate passages. There was a case of a woman who had the surgery performed when she was a child. The surgery either wasn’t successful or as she grew the trauma from the surgery created a direct passageway from her rectum to the uterus. She increased her likelihood of getting pregnant by having anal sex and did become pregnant this way.
If you are not wanting a pregnancy to occur, use protection no matter what is being penetrated.
