It’s the most wonderful time of the year… for making a baby. Something about latkes and Santa Clause leads a lot of people to get pregnant during the holiday season, or what we like to call here at Stix, baby-making-season. December is statistically proven as the most popular time that Americans get pregnant. We’re here to dive deep into trends around conception and the calendar. 

If your birthday falls in September, you’re likely the outcome of baby-making-season, which falls 9 months before. But don’t spend too much time dwelling on the details, because you’re not alone. For the last two decades, September has been the busiest month for births in America. While holidays might be one explanation for this trend, it’s also likely that taking time off of work plays a factor. With less time spent in the office, couples find more time to spend in the bedroom. 

A few fun facts about baby-making-season:

1. 9% of all US conceptions occur in December
2. 2x as many condoms are sold the week before Christmas than the week after
3. People are 17x more likely to have sex at midnight than at 10 am
4. Sunday is the least popular day for sex

Although holidays are the most common time to conceive, they are among the least popular times to give birth. This, however, has less to do with the date of conception and more to do with doctors’ schedules. As a lot of pregnancies require a planned C-Section, it’s not likely for a doctor to schedule one on a major holiday. For that reason, Christmas, Christmas Eve, and New Years Day have been the three least common birthdays for the last two decades. 

It’s hard to determine exactly which day of conception is the most popular, as babies are not always conceived the day that you have sex. In fact, sperm can live in your fallopian tubes for a full week while waiting for you to ovulate. Additionally, no two pregnancies are the same and babies that were conceived on the same day will most likely still have different birthdays.  However, September 9th has been the most common birthday for 20 years, so conception would fall somewhere near December 17th. 

If you use your horoscope to guide your choices like we sometimes do, you’re probably wondering what baby-making-season means for your sign. While no study has confirmed one sign as the most common, baby-making-season brings good news for Virgos (those born between August 20th and September 21st). Alternatively, Aquarius is the least common sign, meaning late January to mid-February birthdays are among the least common. 

So, whether it’s the holiday season that ignites feelings of romance or a little bit of liquid courage, this time of the year has very high pregnancy rates. If you plan to participate in baby-making-season this year, here are a few tips:

1. Know when you ovulate. Ovulation plays a big role in timing out conception, so it’s important to plan sex around your cycle.
2. Sign up for a Stix subscription. Not getting pregnant right away is very common, and the last thing you need during the holidays is to constantly run to the store to buy tests. Instead, we’ll ship them right to your door as often as you’d like.
3. Have lots of unprotected sex. Stix will make your baby-making-season as easy and comfortable as possible so that all you have to do is practice.