Fertility Product Overview: Ovulation Tests, Fertility Monitors, and Pregnancy Tests

For couples trying to conceive, Ovulation and Pregnancy Tests are frequent - if not daily - helpers on the path to pregnancy. Ovulation tests and fertility monitors are designed to predict ovulation by detecting LH (or Luteinizing Hormone), while pregnancy tests confirm conception by detecting the hormone hCG.

OPKs, Urine (LH) Ovulation Tests
Ovulation tests [1] - or ovulation predictor kits (OPKs) - are excellent tools for predicting ovulation, a woman's most fertile time during her menstrual cycle. Ovulation tests anticipate ovulation - not just confirm that ovulation has taken place - making them invaluable for predicting fertility.

Ovulation tests work by detecting luteinizing hormone (LH) in a woman's urine. Just preceding ovulation, women experience an "LH surge" - a sudden, dramatic, and brief rise in the level of luteinizing hormone. Ovulation tests [1] detect the LH surge, allowing you to accurately predict when you will ovulate. A positive result on an ovulation test means that the woman will most likely become fertile over the next three days - with peak fertility at 36 hours following the LH surge...

Fertility Monitors
Fertility monitors [2], devices that help you to pinpoint your optimal time for conceiving, have become an increasingly common purchase for couples, though they are more expensive than ovulation predictor kits. Although there are a variety of brands of monitors on the market, the majority can be grouped into two categories: Saliva-Based and Urine-Based Fertility Monitors.

Urine Fertility Monitors
Urine-based fertility monitors work by detecting the levels of key hormones present in urine which can indicate ovulation. Click here [3] to read about Fertility Monitors [3].

Saliva Testing
When a woman is on the verge of ovulating, her saliva begins to form a distinct patterns that can be observed through a hand-held microscope [4]. Click here [5] to read about Ovulation Saliva Tests [5].

Urine Home Pregnancy Tests
Home pregnancy testing is becoming increasingly easy, affordable, and accurate - with early-detection tests [6] capable of determining pregnancy as early as 8-10 DPO (days past ovulation).

Pregnancy tests determine pregnancy through the detection of the hormone hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) in a woman's urine . Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) is a glycoprotein hormone secreted by the developing placenta shortly after fertilization. The appearance of hCG soon after conception - and its subsequent rise in concentration during early gestational growth - make it an excellent marker for the early detection of pregnancy. To read more about pregnancy tests [7], click here [7].

hCG Quantitative and Qualitative Blood Pregnancy Tests
A quantitative blood test, or beta hCG test, measures the exact amount of hCG in the blood. A qualitative hCG simply indicates a positive or negative result for pregnancy without providing hCG levels. Because these are blood tests, you will need to visit a doctor or clinic for testing.

If pregnant, the amount of hCG in your system should be around 25 mIU at 10 dpo (days past ovulation), 50 mIU at 12 dpo, 100 mIU at around two weeks dpo. Blood tests can determine pregnancy as low as between 5 to 10 mIU/hCG, though with levels around 5 mIU, a determination cannot be made without risking a "false positive". Drugstore pregnancy tests generally detect pregnancy at 50 mIU - 100 mIU hCG, though you can find early-detection pregnancy tests online [6] with sensitivity levels as low as 20 mIU. Look for FDA-Approval.

A Note on hCG Pregnancy Tests and Trophoblastic Disease
Besides pregnancy, elevated concentrations of hCG may be found in women with trophoblastic diseases. These conditions should be ruled out in the interpretation of hCG levels to establish a diagnosis of pregnancy. Also, with elevated hCG levels without pregnancy, consult your physician.

Pregnancy and Ovulation Test Instructions
Test Instructions are specific to Ovulation-Predictor.com products. They are re-published here as a single example of urine test instructions. These instructions should not be generalized to other brands.

• Pregnancy Tests

> Pregnancy Test Strips [8]
> Pregnancy Midstream Tests [9]

• Ovulation Tests

> Ovulation Test Strips [10]
> Ovulation Midstream Tests [11]