However, recently she has allowed me to 'finger' her, and she seems to get a lot of pleasure from this. But now she has missed her period, and we are concerned about this. I know you said that girls can miss their menses because of anaemia or emotional stress, but she does not have those.

So my question is this. Could she have got pregnant because she gave me a 'hand-job?' In other words, could some sperms have gone on to her hand when I discharged, and then got inside her when she fixed her underwear with that same hand? She did wipe her fingers after making me climax, but maybe she didn't take sufficient care.

Also, there was a night recently when she allowed me to put the tip of my penis on the outside of her vagina for a few seconds. However, she had not been stimulating me 'by hand' at the time, so I hope I wouldn't have produced any sperms.

This was five days before her period was due. I have read that the most dangerous time to have sex is five days before the menses.

If she is pregnant, I will not leave her. But both of us want to complete our education - and if we had a baby, that would change everything.

A Yes, it certainly would. Please note that I hav one or two details in your letter, so that no one will be able to identify you.

Let me deal first with the question of WHEN girls can get pregnant. What you have read is wrong. The 'most dangerous time' is NOT five days before a period.

In reality, a female can get pregnant at any time of the month. But the most risky time is 12 to 14 days after the start of a period. Let me stress that I do mean 12 to 14 days after the START - not 12 to 14 days after the finish.

Now, let us turn to the question of whether 'love play' (that is, petting) can cause pregnancy. It can - if the couple fail to take care, and so allow sperms to get into the vagina.

However, in reality such things are very rare. As far as I can recall, I have only seen two such cases of 'virgin birth' in my entire medical career. So the chance that you have accidentally impregnated your girl friend is not very great.

But you could save yourselves a great deal of fretting by simply getting a pregnancy test done. These days, those tests are enormously reliable. I am sure that you will both be relieved when the test turns out to be 'negative'.

An important point emerges from your story, and it is this. When young people go in for love play, they have a tendency to keep on trying 'just a little bit more'. So what tends to happen is something like this:

This is human nature, and it is entirely understandable. But again and again, it leads to unwanted pregnancy.

I forecast that if the two of you continue on your present path with petting, it will not be too long before you find yourselves having full intercourse. And that may lead to finding yourselves with a sweet little baby to look after! You have now been warned.

Finally, can I just deal with the question of your girlfriend's menses not arriving 'on time?'

Lots of young women have periods that are not too regular. As you say, sometimes that is due to anaemia, and other times it can be due to emotional stress - like worrying about being pregnant.

But in many perfectly healthy girls, a period can arrive very late for no obvious reason. In such cases, it is probable that there has just been some little 'fuss' in the female hormones that month.

Summing up, I do not believe that your girlfriend is pregnant. But in order to achieve absolute peace of mind, get someone to do a pregnancy test on her urine.

And in the future, please take great care. The temptation to have intercourse is a real powerful one - which is why there are so many people on this planet.

I had an ultrasound done, and that showed that I have a right ovarian cyst, plus some fibroids - with the largest measuring 5.4 centimetres.

But what scares me is that on the ultrasound, the left ovary was 'not visible'. Why is this? I was so upset that I did not question the doctor about why it was invisible. What could be done to make the left ovary visible?

A Sorry to hear that you have been fretting. But it is important to realise that doing an ultrasound scan is rather like taking a photo in a darkened room - with a lot of furniture lying around the place and blocking the view!

So it is not uncommon for an ultrasound operator to be unable to find one of the ovaries. It would be much more worrying if the ovary was BIG, or looked abnormal.

What about the cyst in your other ovary? Well, it is quite common for women to have ovarian cysts, and this one may not be of any importance.

You also mention that the ultrasound showed up fibroids. These are ball-like swellings of fibrous tissue, and they are real frequent in the over-30s. I suspect that the fibroids may be the cause of your period pain and cramps, and if so they should be treated - perhaps by having them removed. They could affect your future fertility.

So it is pretty clear to me that what you should do now is to take your ultrasound results to a doc who is experienced in gynaecology. The doc will examine you, and tell you if you need to take an operation to get rid of the fibroids, and also prescribe medication to help you. Good luck.

A Yes. Many boys do not 'hit' puberty until they are 14.

A No. Female orgasm is a very subtle business, which is easily affected by emotions and hang-ups. My guess is that you will be able to climax when you eventually establish a good and happy relationship about which you feel no guilt.

A This suggests that he has jaundice. There are dozens of different possible causes for that. So he must see a doc right away for an examination and tests.