Simplicity “No-Step” Pregnancy Test
This new test, called Simplicity, works the same way as traditional stick tests, by measuring the amount of hCG in urine. The twist: No sticks. You urinate into a cup, and the cup itself gives you the result. Two lines appearing in the cup’s window indicate pregnancy, a single line means not pregnant. One Simplicity test retails for $9.99.
Home Fertility Tests: What You Need To Know
Experts caution that using a fertility monitor is no substitute for tracking your cycles. In fact, the accuracy and success of the monitors depends in part on how well you know your own cycle. “Even the most advanced over-the-counter fertility predictor isn’t going to pay off unless you get very familiar with your individual menstrual cycles,” says Lawrence Grunfeld, M.D., a clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan. Writing in an American Fertility Association fact sheet, he continued, “It’s basic knowledge that helps you use the kits most efficiently.”
And before you invest your money and time to buy and use these tests, it’s important to also keep in mind that fertility monitors can only tell you so much about your reproductive status. There are other factors besides not ovulating that can lead to difficulties conceiving.
“At a certain point, the bigger question a woman needs to be asking herself is whether she should be seeking the help of a specialist,” says Mark D. Hornstein, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Summer 2005
