You spent your younger years trying desperately to avoid becoming pregnant: condoms, the pill and other, less reliable, means. But the time has come; you are ready for that little bundle of joy to grace you with her presence. You remove the necessary obstacles to conception, set the mood, do the deed right on time each month and… nothing. After a few months, or years, with no luck, frustration and disappointment quickly set in. You aren't alone. It’s a fact: one in seven couples has trouble conceiving.
It’s been a long time coming, but there is finally a product on the market designed to detect fertility issues early on in the conception process. The best part? It’s sold over the counter and can be used in the privacy of your home. Fertell, a fertility test previously only available in the UK, is now available in North America, and is being billed as the first step for couples who are trying to conceive a child.
What exactly is Fertell?
It’s surprisingly simple: Fertell is a two-part test that screens both the man and the woman for tell-tale signs of infertility. The female test measures levels of FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone), which helps gauge the ability of your ovaries to produce eggs capable of being fertilized. The male test measures the concentration of motile sperm (those that will actually be able to reach the egg). Fertell is 95% accurate and is similar to the initial screenings your doctor would perform.
How does it work?
The male test forces the sperm to swim through a fluid-filled chamber designed to mimic the path sperm would take during the natural fertilization process. As they progress through the chamber, a chemical is released that will code the motile sperm. If there are enough motile sperm (at least 10 million per milliliter of semen), two red lines will appear in the test window. A result of only one red line is indicative of too few motile sperm.
The female test works much like a pregnancy test, complete with a stick to pee on. The test strip contains antibodies that react with FSH in the urine. In this case, the higher the FSH levels, the darker the appearance of the second red line. Because high FSH levels can cause the egg to release before it is ready to be fertilized, this is actually a negative result and means further consult with a doctor is recommended.
The screening that Fertell provides may not rule out the need for further testing by a specialist, but it’s a good starting point for couples who are not conceiving as quickly as they’d like. Knowing whether you should “just keep trying” or schedule an appointment with a specialist provides a great deal in the way of peace of mind. At just $100 for the kit, the screening is a hole-in-one (especially if your insurance doesn’t cover fertility specialists). And for the guys who are a bit iffy about that initial fertility workup, we’ll wager the privacy factor is priceless!
c. 2007, ePregnancy.com