An ovulation predictor kit is a valuable fertility tool to have on your road to motherhood. This easy, at-home test, measures your urine for a spike in the level of luteinizing hormone. Known as the LH surge, this rise is responsible for ovulation. A positive test indicates that ovulation is likely to occur within the next 12 to 36 hours.

Some important things to know about using ovulation predictor kits:

• Women don’t necessarily ovulate the same day in their cycle every month, so be sure to always follow the instructions in your kit for what day in your cycle to begin testing. If your test was first positive on your 12th cycle day last time, don’t wait until cycle day 12 to start testing in the next cycles, as you may ovulate earlier.
• Do not test your first morning urine. It’s very concentrated and therefore could result in a false positive result.
• Although the test may be positive for 1 to 3 days, the first positive result is detecting the LH-Surge. Stop testing and inseminate. You should ovulate within 12 to 36 hours.
• Be sure your test is 100% positive before you inseminate.If your test line is almost as dark as the reference line, but not quite, it’s not yet a positive result. A test isn’t positive until your test line shows what your kit defines as positive (as dark or darker) than the reference line. Some kits have a smiley face for a positive result, which can be easier to interpret.
• We recommend you do a “dry run” test at least one month prior to your first insemination cycle so you can become familiar with the appearance of a positive test and the approximate time in your cycle that you can expect to ovulate.

We recommend these test kits because they are more specific to the LH surge than other products:

OVUSponse is available for purchase at our PRS offices or online. It’s a 1- step LH ovulation predictor test that yields results in about 3 minutes. Each kit comes with 9 tests.
For more information go to: www.ovusponse.com or call: (877) 546-4223.

First Response is available at most major drug stores and other retailers. It’s a 1-step LH ovulation predictor test that yields results in about 5 minutes. Each kit comes with 7 tests. PRS does not recommend using the 20-day test product.
For more information go to: www.first response.com.

Sherron Mills

Sherron is founder and president of Pacific Reproductive Services