FAM stands for fertility awareness method. Basically, the method explains how women can take control of their fertility by being more aware of how their body works.

There is mention in the literature I read on the topic that claims this information can also be used to prevent pregnancy. If pregnancy prevention is the sole reason for learning more about FAM, there are more effective options to prevent pregnancy. It is also noted that one way to prevent pregnancy is to not have intercourse. 

The Basics of FAM

In order to utilize FAM to the fullest, the woman must take some information on faith. That information includes the estimation that an egg lives inside the woman for up to 24 hours – but using FAM assumes more than one egg is present so the fertile time spans 48 hours. Sperm are viable for up to five days and the ideal time for egg fertilization is the span of time three days before you ovulate to three days after you ovulate. Ovulation is not always predictable, so FAM adds a couples days on the front and end of the ovulation cycle for good measure. 

As you can tell already, the rules of FAM are based on the basics of your fertility or ovulation cycle with a few little changes here and there. There is nothing new to the method other than what women already know. If you track your menstrual cycles you will be able to figure out your most fertile days and increase the chance of conceiving. 

The FAM is not any different from other fertility calculating methods, but it does give women one piece of important information. It tells women how to calculate their most fertile days based on the length of their cycle. After tracking the length of your cycles, jot down the longest and shortest. Subtract 18 from the shortest menstrual cycle and 11 from the longest. These are the dates of ovulation or your most fertile days. 

Example: Longest cycle is 32 days. Subtract 11 from 32 and you get 21. Your shortest cycle is 25 days. Subtract 18 from 25 and you get 7. The span of your ovulating time frame should be between the 7th and 21st of each month. 

When it comes to estimating fertility you can choose to guesstimate based on your average cycle and uses that same time span for every month or you can change the time span based on the previous few months of cycles. Your menstrual and fertility cycle will change, but the FAM is not really that different from other fertility cycle measuring techniques.