Each year, millions of men and women deal with the issue of infertility--the inability to conceive after a year of unprotected sex. While medical procedures can help many couples conceive, there are simpler alternatives that can dramatically help improve a couple's chances of becoming pregnant. Measuring ovulation cycles with an ovulation predictor kit is one of the simplest and most effective ways to help boost the chances of conception.
Ovulation
Ovulation is the period of time during a woman's menstrual cycle when one of the ovaries releases an egg in response to increases in specific hormones. Most women with normal cycles will experience ovulation about 14 days after the first day of their last menstrual period. Ovulation is also the time when a woman is most fertile, and therefore most likely to conceive.
Ovulation Predictor Features
Available at most pharmacies without a prescription, an ovulation predictor is very similar to a home pregnancy test. Each kit contains easy-to-use test strips to measure levels of specific hormones in your urine and return a result that indicates whether ovulation is about to occur.
How Ovulation Predictors Work
During ovulation, your body releases a specific hormone, called luteinizing hormone (LH), to trigger the release of an egg, or ovum, from an ovary. LH is present in increased levels in a woman's urine just prior to the release of the egg. Ovulation predictors contain chemicals that react to the presence of elevated levels of LH in a woman's urine, allowing a woman to determine when she is most likely to be ovulating.
Advantages of Using an Ovulation Predictor
Ovulation predictors can help couples determine when intercourse is most likely to result in conception. Although the devices can be used in a single menstrual cycle to help a woman identify when she is most fertile, many women use them over the course of several cycles as part of an ongoing charting process, to more effectively determine the precise time during each month when they are most likely to conceive. Especially for couples who have had trouble conceiving, monitoring hormonal changes over several months can be a valuable method of increasing the chances of achieving a successful pregnancy.
Accuracy
Since LH levels can rise occasionally even without the release of an egg, ovulation predictors may return false positives. Also, LH levels may surge several days prior to ovulation in some women, which can also result in a false positive. False positives can also be returned when your urine is concentrated, such as during the first urination of the day.
