Fertility Monitor Buyer's Guide

How do I know which fertility monitor is right for me?

For some women, trying to pinpoint when ovulation will occur can prove to be an exhausting and cumbersome chore. Using a fertility monitor can certainly help take the guesswork out of ovulation prediction, but as you probably already know, there are many different fertility monitors available, representing a wide range in price and features, making it difficult to choose which monitor to purchase. In an effort to help guide you to the monitor that is right for you, we have compiled a feature-by-feature comparison of the three best-selling fertility monitors at Early-Pregnancy-Tests.com, the OvaCue® Fertility Monitor, the Clearblue® Easy Fertility Monitor, and the Fertile Focus Ovulation Microscope. Read on for information on each monitor in the following categories: how the monitor works; accuracy; advance notice of ovulation; ovulation confirmation; convenience and cost.

How the monitor works:

The OvaCue® Fertility Monitor is a saliva-based electronic monitor, consisting of a hand-held monitor with a color screen and a spoon-sized oral sensor. The OvaCue® uses the patented Electrolyte Method™ to predict your fertile window up to 7 days in advance. Here's how it works: Throughout your menstrual cycle, the electrolyte levels in your saliva fluctuate as the hormone levels in your body change. Each morning, the oral sensor is placed on the tongue to measure the electrolyte levels in your saliva. The OvaCue® stores the information gathered from these oral readings, tracks the changes in electrolyte levels and processes the information to precisely define the fertile window. The OvaCue® also has a vaginal sensor (sold separately) that detects the shift in hormones that coincides with ovulation (specifically the shift from estrogen to progesterone dominance). The information gathered from the vaginal sensor allows the OvaCue® to confirm the date that ovulation occurred.

The Clearblue® Easy Fertility Monitor is a urine-based monitor, consisting of a hand-held monitor and urine test sticks. The Clearblue® Easy uses information gathered from urine tests to track your levels of luteinizing hormone and estrogen. Once it reads the test stick and measures the hormone levels in the urine, the monitor displays a fertility status for that day. Typically, the Clearblue® Easy Monitor will identify 2 "peak fertility" days, and up to 5 "high fertility" days prior to the "peak fertility" days.

The Fertile-Focus is a saliva-based ovulation microscope that predicts fertility by displaying the visual changes that occur in your saliva throughout your cycle. Just prior to ovulation, women experience an "estrogen surge." The Fertile-Focus allows you to observe the fern-like patterns that develop in your saliva due to this increase in estrogen. To use the Fertile-Focus, you place a dab of fresh saliva on the lens window, and allow the saliva to dry. Once the saliva is dry, you will press a light button to illuminate the sample and look for the ferning pattern.

Accuracy:

The OvaCue® Fertility Monitor has been clinically proven to be 98% accurate in predicting ovulation in studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

The Clearblue® Easy Fertility Monitor has been shown in laboratory testing to be 99% accurate in detecting the LH surge in cycles in which an LH surge had also been identified by a reference method.

The accuracy of the Fertile-Focus ovulation microscope depends on the ability of the user to interpret the visual display.

Advance notice of ovulation:

The OvaCue® Fertility Monitor detects the hormone changes that coincide with the selection of the dominant follicle that releases the egg at ovulation. Research shows that the selection of the dominant follicle occurs approximately 5-7 days before ovulation. Once the monitor detects that the dominant follicle has been selected, it will predict ovulation for 5-7 days in the future. The monitor displays your fertile window by coloring in the calendar with various shades of blue, indicating low to high fertility.

The Clearblue® Easy Monitor detects the estrogen surge that occurs 1-5 days prior to ovulation and the LH surge that occurs 24-36 hours before ovulation. As a result, this monitor provides at least a 24-hour advance notice of ovulation, and up to 5 days advance notice.

The Fertile Focus ovulation microscope detects the estrogen surge that precedes ovulation. This can occur up to 5 days before ovulation.

Ovulation confirmation:

Of the fertility monitors available at Early-Pregnancy-Tests.com, only the OvaCue® Fertility Monitor can confirm that ovulation occurred. With information gathered from the vaginal sensor (sold separately), the OvaCue® will detect the shift from estrogen dominance to progesterone dominance that accompanies ovulation. When this hormonal shift occurs, the monitor will display a pink box indicating ovulation took place.

Convenience:

Using the OvaCue® Fertility Monitor takes only a few seconds each day. You simply place the oral sensor on your tongue for a few seconds, and the monitor will measure and record your electrolyte reading. Once you are done taking the reading, wash the oral sensor with water and mild soap, and it is ready for the next day. Many women find the OvaCue® to be convenient to use in that no urine testing is required and there are no test sticks to purchase on a monthly basis. The monitor is small enough to be carried in a purse, and comes with a carrying case.

The Clearblue® Easy Fertility Monitor is also simple to use. Each morning, you will turn the monitor on. On certain days, the monitor will direct you to test your urine. To perform the test, you take a sample of your urine by holding the test stick in your urine stream for 3 seconds, or by holding the test stick in a sample of urine for 15 seconds. You then insert the test stick into the monitor. Approximately 5 minutes later the monitor will ask you to remove the test tick, and will display your fertility status for that day. The use of the Clearblue® Easy Fertility Monitor requires purchasing test sticks.

The Fertile-Focus requires taking a daily saliva sample, and waiting up to five minutes for the saliva to dry. It is self-contained, easily portable, and looks like a lipstick case.

Cost:

The OvaCue® Fertility Monitor (which comes with the oral sensor) costs $249.00. The optional vaginal sensor costs an additional $100.00. After the initial purchase of the OvaCue®, there are no additional purchases (such as test sticks) required.

The Clearblue® Easy Monitor sells for $199.95 at Early-Pregnancy-Tests.com, which includes 30 Clearblue Test Sticks and 10 Early-Detection Pregnancy Tests. A 3-month supply of test sticks (30 test sticks) costs $39.95.

The Fertile Focus sells for $27.95 at Early-Pregnancy-Tests.com.