Fertility Testing for Women
Ovulation Testing> Other Tests
Cervical mucus
Around the time of ovulation, estrogen levels rise and cause more water to be secreted into the cervical mucus. The mucus can become thinner, or stretchier when stretched between the fingers. Women can check their own cervical mucus to see if it becomes thinner. Some women can reliably predict ovulation this way and in them it correlates to ovulation predictor kits and basal body temperature charting.
However, studies which have evaluated cervical mucus testing compared to urinary ovulation predictor kit testing have shown that cervical mucus testing is less accurate, because some women perceive a change in mucus even when ovulation does not occur.
Nevertheless, there is little harm in checking for cervical mucus changes. We would recommend this not be used as the only test to determine ovulation.
Salivary ferning microscope tests
These have been shown to be unreliable and we do not recommend them. Salivary ferning microscope tests will sometimes even show that men and post-menopausal women are ovulating. Clearly, these results cannot be interpreted with any confidence.