Fertility Monitor FAQs

How Do Fertility Monitors Work?

Fertility Monitors work by letting you the days in each cycle when you are most likely to conceive.  Fertility Monitors are very similar to pregnancy tests – you do a urine or saliva test that will then detect the hormonal changes in your body as you approach ovulation.

The easy-read results are shown on the product display.

Depending on which fertility monitor you purchase it may have slight variations.

What’s The Difference Between Ovulation Tests and Fertility Monitors?

Ovulation Tests detect the Luteinising Hormone (LH) surge which occurs approximately 24-36 hours prior to ovulation.  As the two best days of your cycle to conceive are the day before ovulation and the day of ovulation itself. So, if you make love on these 2 days, you’ll be giving yourself the best chance of becoming pregnant.

Fertility Monitors on the other hand can detect more fertile days within each cycle.  In addition to detecting the LH surge and being able to pinpoint your 2 peak fertile days, fertility monitors can also identify up to 5 additional fertile days.

It achieves this by detecting the rise in estrogen which occurs immediately before this LH surge.

As male sperm can only survive in the female body for several days, having intercourse on those days can also result in pregnancy.  Depending on which type and brand of fertility monitor you are using, you will also be able to learn about additional information including when the end of your cycle is.

Fertility Monitors Do They Work?

Yes definitely.  Fertility monitors allow you to maximize the changes of getting pregnant each and every month.

Fertility monitors are a sample and effective way of identifying your most fertile days every cycle to help you get pregnant faster.

Will The Fertility Monitor Work For Me?

You can successfully use a fertility monitor if your natural cycle on average lasts between 21 and 42 days.

For fertility monitors that require test sticks, most women will need to use 10 test sticks in each cycle.  Women with irregular or long cycles may have to use 20 test sticks each cycle in order to determine when they are most fertile.

Medications

Certain medical conditions and medications can negatively affect the performance of the your fertility monitor.

If you have menopausal symptoms, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), impaired liver or kidney function, or if you are pregnant or have recently been pregnant (even if not carried to full term), you may get misleading results.

You may also get misleading results if you are using antibiotics containing tetracyclines, hormonal treatments (e.g. hormonal contraception, hormone replacement therapy), fertility treatments containing human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) or luteinising hormone (LH), or any treatment that might affect your cycle.

Clomid

If you’re taking Clomid, keep in mind that Clomid can raise estrogen levels.  This can result in high fertility being declared early in the cycle and more high fertility days being displayed, and in some cases the Monitor may not show Peak Fertility even when ovulation occurs.

We recommend that you always read the manufacturers instructions for any medication you are taking before conducting a test.

Recently Pregnant

Similarly, if you have recently been breastfeeding or pregnant (even if not carried to full term) we advise you to wait until you’ve had at least two natural menstrual cycles in a row (each lasting 21-42 days) before using a fertility monitor.

This way you can make sure that your results are not being affected by any hCG that you may still have in your body just after pregnancy.