Also known as "Natural Family Planning", Fertility Awareness is a birth control method that teaches you to be aware of what is going on in your body throughout every cycle. FAM enables you to recognize when you are fertile, equipping you to decide whether or not to use protection during that time. Believe it or not, your egg only has a 12-24 hour window in which it can be fertilized. This is because after being released from the ovaries (after ovulation), it will die if not reached by sperm.