Your Fertile Period

• According to Planned Parenthood, your fertile period is made up of the days in your cycle on which it's possible for your partner's sperm to fertilize one of your eggs. After ovulation, your egg only lives for about a day. Sperm, however, can survive in your body for about six days. Your fertile period spans about seven days, beginning five days before ovulation and ending one to two days after ovulation.
  
  

Hormonal Methods

• Stopping the use of hormonal methods of birth control will change your fertile period. While you are using a hormonal method, you do not have a fertile period. As the National Women's Health Information Center explains, hormonal methods of birth control prevent pregnancy partly by suppressing ovulation. Without ovulation, your body has no fertile period, since there is no egg for sperm to fertilize. When you stop using these methods, your fertile period returns as your body starts ovulating again. As the Mayo Clinic points out, it may take some time for your body to resume producing the hormones responsible for ovulation, so some women may not get a period for several months after they stop using a hormonal method.
  
  

Barrier Methods

• Stopping the use of barrier methods of birth control will not change your fertile period. As the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists notes, barrier methods prevent pregnancy by blocking sperm from joining with a woman's egg; they do not contain hormones or otherwise impact the normal reproductive functions of a woman's body. While using barrier methods, your fertile period remains unchanged, so stopping the use of these methods will also not alter your fertile period.
  
  

Copper IUD

• According to the Center for Young Women's Health, the IUD, or intra-uterine device, is a T-shaped device that is inserted into the uterus. There are two types of IUDs: the copper IUD and the levonorgestrel IUD. Both types prevent pregnancy by stopping sperm from reaching and fertilizing a woman's egg. While the levonorgestrel IUD also releases levonorgestrel to suppress ovulation, the copper IUD contains no hormones and thus does not change a woman's fertile period when it is inserted or removed.
  
  

If Your Fertile Period Seems Different

• If your fertile period seems different than normal after you stop using a barrier method or copper IUD, the change is likely the result of some other recent disruption in your life. According to MedlinePlus, some common reasons for having a late period (and thus an altered period of fertility) include stress, weight loss, travel, illness or change in exercise or diet. In some cases, irregular menstrual cycles can also be a sign of a more serious problem.