I always think it’s ironic that we spend so much time trying to avoid getting pregnant, but as soon as we want a baby, it turns out birth control may not have been the only barrier. So when I told my doctor I wanted to get pregnant, I was looking for all the tips to increase my chances. But, like many doctors, she told me that I shouldn’t have any issues and only to come back for testing if I was unsuccessful for 12 months (6 months if you’re over 30).
Patience is not my virtue, so waiting 12 months to understand my fertility health was simply not in the cards. So I took matters into my own hands, and I hope I can help you do the same. I can’t promise that you’ll read this and get pregnant on the first try, like I did. What I can promise is that these steps will give you a clearer idea of where you are in your pregnancy journey, so you can set your expectations and address fertility challenges earlier. So without further ado, let’s get into the three easy things you can do to benchmark your fertility health without leaving your house.
Are your hormones in balance?
While we’re busy dreading our period, there is a careful dance that our hormones are doing to prepare our body to conceive and carry a pregnancy. And it turns out that just getting a period every month doesn’t mean that everything is working properly. Hormonal imbalance is the leading cause of infertility and can indicate a number of deeper issues like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or anovulation.
So how do we know if our hormones are in balance? There are several at home tools, such as Proov or Mira, that will guide you through a month of peeing on sticks to track one full cycle of estrogen, luteinizing hormone, and progesterone levels. At the end of the cycle, you’ll receive a report that shows whether your hormones were in a normal range and if you’ve successfully ovulated. I don’t have a PhD, so I’ll let you learn more about the science behind these tests here.
I used Proov Complete and was lucky to discover that I had balanced hormones. The kits cost about $100, but you can typically use HSA or FSA funds.
Testing your hormones at home is a fairly affordable way to identify the biggest contributor to infertility. Should your results be outside the “normal range” you can share this with your doctor to begin exploring what underlying causes may be leading to your hormonal imbalance.
Do you have lots of healthy eggs?
You may have heard of a concept called ovarian reserve. It’s a fancy way of talking about how many healthy eggs you have. As expected, the more healthy eggs you have, the better your chances of conception.
There are two hormones that can be tested to determine ovarian reserve: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH). AMH can only be checked through a blood test, so we’re going to focus on FSH. FSH is the hormone that stimulates your ovaries to release an egg. It sounds counterintuitive, but the theory is that healthy eggs require less stimulation, so the less FSH you produce, the better your ovarian reserve.
If you’re already using Proov Complete to check your hormonal balance, it will also check your FSH - no extra costs or extra tests required. If you find that your FSH is measuring higher than it should, don’t worry - this is only one metric and it does NOT mean that you can’t get pregnant. This is information you can take to your doctor so they can run their own tests and discuss your best path forward.
How strong is his sperm?
Sometimes it feels like fertility is only a women's problem, but it’s time to bring your partners into the fold! Male fertility plays a significant role in conception - it’s literally half of the equation. So while you’re checking your fertility health, consider having your partner leverage an at home sperm test to check both sperm count and motility.
With 100 million sperm released at a time, you might think that it’s a no-brainer that an egg will be fertilized. But it’s actually quite a treacherous journey through the vagina, cervix, uterus, and into the fallopian tubes. Only about 100-200 sperm will actually make it to the finish line, so knowing your partner’s sperm motility score will help you understand if you are working with sperm that are up for the challenge. If you find that your partner’s sperm motility is lower than it should be, your doctor will likely perform their own test and can talk to you about options like IUI.
Home assessments cannot guarantee pregnancy any more than they can diagnose infertility, but they are a great place to start and can save you time and money. Further testing through your doctor may still end up being a part of your fertility journey. Despite getting pregnant naturally, I went on to need IVF to have a successful pregnancy. But the proactive steps I took to understand my fertility health helped me navigate these challenges with confidence. Knowledge is power and will hopefully help you find the smoothest path possible on your pregnancy journey.
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