An overview of fertility products

We break down the advantages and disadvantages of the various classifications of fertility products.

There is no shortage of products available to support women on a fertility journey. But how do these products compare to one another? We break the different at-home products down by category and dive deeper below. 

Blood Tests

Saliva Tests

Urine Tests

Oova

Blood Tests

Blood is considered to be the gold standard for measuring levels of hormones. When a woman goes to her clinician, they often do an intravenous blood draw. However, outside of a phlebotomist coming to someone's house to get a blood sample, at-home options are limited.

Over the past few years, at-home blood testing companies have focused on measuring critical hormones to evaluate a woman's fertility profile. These tests use a dried blood spot and require the sample to be mailed to a clinic or lab for analysis. 

At-home blood test companies typically require women to provide a blood sample through a finger prick and mail it to the clinic or lab the company has partnered with for analysis.  

The primary issue is that the results of these tests are heavily dependent on which cycle day a woman is testing on. The results are also available several days after a sample is mailed in. This could be detrimental to the journey for women trying to conceive as they would need real-time measurements over several days. 

It is important to note that these tests are not meant to be used to proxy for ovulation tracking. These tests can give a good overview of your hormone profile to confirm that your fertility is in good shape on a macro level.

Saliva Tests

Saliva tests are used as an ovulation predictor kit. These tests measure the level of salt and estrogen present in a saliva sample. Around 3-4 days before ovulation, a ferning pattern becomes visible, indicating that ovulation is about to occur.

These tests require a drop of saliva, and once dried, the sample is viewed through a microscope to see if a ferning pattern has formed. Many products require a device that contains a microscope for analysis, and results are sent to a smartphone app via Bluetooth.

These tests must be done first thing in the morning, before eating, drinking, or brushing teeth, as any of these could interfere with results. 

A significant advantage of these tests is that they detect elevated estrogen levels. Estrogen begins to increase before the LH surge. If a woman is trying to conceive, she can try to have intercourse every other day from when her estrogen levels begin to increase. This will ensure enough sperm is present when she ovulates several days later. 

These tests are not quantitative and will only provide a yes or no answer. They will not report a value for the hormone concentrations.

Urine Tests

Urine tests are the most commonly used tools when tracking ovulation. Most urine tests measure luteinizing hormone (LH), while advanced tests include estrogen. Measuring both estrogen and LH ensures that a woman can maximize her fertile window and have intercourse to optimize her chances of conception.

Many tests available over the counter show the results in the form of a second line appearing or a blinking smiley face. The idea is that when the results are positive, she should have intercourse as she is most likely to conceive at that point. 

A drawback to these tests is that they are designed for women with a typical 28-day cycle. For those with reproductive disorders such as PCOS, hormone imbalances, or irregular cycles, these tests will not be reliable or accurate for her. The over-the-counter ovulation tests detect a positive result when the hormone levels surpass a predetermined threshold. This threshold may be meaningless for women who do not have a typical cycle. 

Oova

Oova is an at-home test that measures luteinizing hormone and progesterone from a urine sample. Oova can identify a woman's fertile window and confirm if she ovulated in a single test. Because the test uses urine, the entire experience is entirely non-invasive.

Women are requested to test for 15 consecutive days. The 15 days are determined by the algorithm and customized for every woman. The goal is to capture a woman's baseline levels, LH surge, and post-surge to confirm if an egg was released. On a testing day, a woman provides a urine sample on an Oova cartridge, scans it using the camera on her phone (just like making a mobile deposit), and gets results within seconds in the Oova app.

Every day that a woman uses an Oova test, she is provided with the hormone concentrations for both LH and progesterone. By measuring these levels, Oova can capture every woman's hormone baseline levels and detect fluctuations by comparing that. This allows the Oova platform to be personalized for every woman and does not compare her data to a standard threshold. 

Each day, women are provided with customized daily action plans to take control of their journey fully.

Oova is the only product on the market trusted by doctors. If a woman is working with an Oova provider, she can easily share her data with her clinical team by entering their clinic ID in the app (provided by the clinician), and Oova takes care of the rest.

Still have questions about whether Oova is right for you?

Schedule a free-15 minute meeting with an Oova team member to answer all of your questions!