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Beating the Biological Clock

Beating the Biological Clock

It’s no secret that more and more women are having babies at a later age, causing some of us to worry about chances of conceiving. Now, there’s a new fertility test on the market that claims it can actually count how many eggs we have left in our ovaries.

PlanAhead allegedly estimates how many eggs remain by checking the levels of three ovarian-related hormones.
We say “allegedly” because the product—which costs $350—hasn’t been approved by the FDA, so it’s considered purely experimental. And of course, there are other non-egg related problems that can interfere with a woman’s fertility. Experts are skeptical about how accurate (and worthwhile) this test truly is, but we want to know what you think. Would you spend money on this sort of test to determine whether pregnancy is an option? Or do you need more concrete evidence that the product really works?

Posted: 9/7/08
carolineshannon

Interesting ... but suspicious. I have met so many people during my lifetime who have had an extremely difficult time conceiving, so a product like this would be wonderful ... if it works. It is scary to think that I might not be able to (some day) have a child as a result of infertility or age or any number of factors. So, a product like this provides hope ... but I need more concrete evidence.

VictoriaB

Gosh, I hate to be cynical, but I think I'd rather make paper airplanes out of 350 dollar bills and send them floating of the window than take a chance on this test. And like Lourdes says, you still have to see your doc.

Interesting thought, though.

Lourdes542

This sounds like a gimmick to me. Even with an at-home pregnancy test, women still have to go to their doctors to have bloodwork done because the results could be wrong. Plus there are lots of factors that determine one's fertility—nothing can replace going to a doctor and being properly tested.