Protection Against Pregnancy The best scientific data on condom effectiveness shows that if condoms are used properly, there is a two percent failure rate.
Some people mistakenly interpret this two percent failure rate as meaning that a woman has a two percent chance of getting pregnant every time she has sex even if her partner is using a condom.
The way the failure rate is calculated is how many women can expect to get pregnant in a year if they use a condom correctly every time they have sex.
The two percent failure rate means that over the course of a year, two percent of women who use a condom every time will get pregnant.
Your actual chance of getting pregnant while using a condom during any one sexual encounter is much lower than two percent.
Protection Against Disease If you use condoms with other forms of birth control, you can decrease the chances of pregnancy to almost zero.
The most common combination is a male condom with a spermicide applied to it.
Most estimates show that this combination is 99.
9% effective in preventing pregnancy.
Condoms are also very effective at preventing disease.
Several scientific studies have shown that over the course of one year, almost 7 percent of people who have unprotected sex with a partner with HIV or AIDS will contract the virus.
Over the course of one year, less than 1 percent of people who use a condom and have sex with a partner with HIV or AIDS will contract the virus.
Said differently, there is an extremely small chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease if you use a condom correctly.