I first heard about SMEP or Sperm Meets Egg Plan/Method when I was trying to conceive after my miscarriage. 

I was devastated after my miscarriage. But, my husband and I really wanted to have a baby. So, two months after the miscarriage, we started trying again.

I was already familiar with the ovulatory cycle and timing intercourse. After all, we had just gotten pregnant a few months before the miscarriage. This time, however, things were not going as well.

I had a fairly good idea of when I was ovulating, and we had intercourse daily for a couple of days before and a couple after that date. But somehow it just wasn’t working.

After four months of not succeeding, I was getting pretty depressed. In my online miscarriage forums, I started noticing people talking about the sperm meets egg plan or, as we call it, SMEP. Quite a few women mentioned that the SMEP method had worked for them, even after their miscarriages.

One of the first things I noticed on this website was that the SMEP plan was originally designed for women trying to conceive after a miscarriage.

That really spoke to me.

Then I went to the comments where other successful mothers were sharing their SMEP stories. According to them, the sperm meets egg plan really works and is easy to follow.

Needless to say, I had to give it a try.

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So, what is SMEP?

• Your chances of getting pregnant in any given month are about 20-25%. Within two years, 95% of people trying to achieve pregnancy, who do not have infertility issues, will succeed.
• The SMEP plan tries to better those odds by ensuring that the sperm meets the egg during each cycle.
• SMEP or sperm meets egg plan is a method of timed sexual intercourse that was designed to make sure there was sperm available inside the woman’s fallopian tubes when the mature eggs are released.
• This is accomplished by following an exact schedule of intercourse and testing for ovulation. If the schedule is adhered to, then there will definitely be sperm available when the egg is released.

How does SMEP or sperm meet egg plan work?

Step by step process for the plan:

1. Starting on the 8^th day of your menstrual cycle, you have intercourse every other day. The duration of SMEP is on average proportional to the lifespan of the sperm.
2. On the 10^th day of your menstrual cycle, you start using an ovulation prediction kit (OPK) daily until you get a positive result. A note about OPK tests, unless the test you’re using states otherwise, it’s actually better not to test with first-morning urine. This is because the LH surge (hormonal surge that happens prior to ovulation, this is the surge the OPK test is reading) begins in the early morning and may not be apparent early in the morning. Since the surge builds as the day goes on, late morning or early afternoon is the best time to test.
3. You have intercourse on the day you get a positive result from your OPK kit and for the next two days in a row. You skip the fourth day and have intercourse again on the fifth day.
4. If you haven’t gotten your period 15 days after your positive OPK, it’s time for a pregnancy test.
5. Follow the below example SMEP calendar for a better understanding. Feel free to download, use, and share.

Would it work for me?

• • The Sperm Meets Egg method works best for people who can stick to a testing and intercourse schedule. The couple has to have some time together each day, and the woman may need to have enough flexibility in her schedule to do some OPK testing during the day.
  • If the couple has really erratic schedules and have trouble scheduling time together, the plan may not work well for them.
  • The SMEP is only designed to make sure the sperm and egg are together at the right time, it can’t do anything about infertility issues. If a couple, who have never been tested for infertility, use the SMEP for 4-6 months without success, it’s time to step up to the next level and consult a fertility specialist.

Can SMEP be used with frozen sperm?

Yes, theoretically, as long as you do the IUI on the SMEP schedule. Sperm cryopreservation is a standard procedure but the majority of people freezing their sperm don’t have an unlimited supply. SMEP is not the best way to use what they do have. If frozen sperm is going to be used for conception then you’re much better off doing a standard intrauterine insemination (IUI) at a fertility center.

Major fertility centers have success rates with IUI of around 20%. It’s about the same as SMEP but with a lot less of your precious frozen sperm being used. The whole IUI process is designed to use one vial of sperm per procedure.

I’m telling all my friends about SMEP!

I’m thrilled to tell you that this pregnancy has progressed past the point of last miscarriage and I think it’s going to stick. When people ask me if we did anything special, I tell them about SMEP and how it assures that sperm meets egg.

This system really should be tried for a couple of months before consulting a fertility specialist. If SMEP doesn’t work after six months to a year (depending on your age) of using it correctly, it’s time to consult a fertility specialist. If you do consult a fertility specialist be sure to mention that you’ve been using SMEP, this is information they can use.

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