In the last two years there has been, in the UK, the possibility of buying “fertility tests” for prices up to £179 that allow women to measure levels of reproductive hormones, giving them an idea of the numbers of eggs they have left: the ovarian reserve. The tests are sold by assuring that they can predict the chances of women to get pregnant.

However, experts have recently suggested that these tests are not really useful, since they cannot determine their quality. Women are actually better off relying on their date of birth to figure out how fertile they are, they claim.

The head of CARE Fertility in Nottingham, Dr Simon Fishel, one of the world’s leading fertility specialists, said that “these kits can make couples unnecessarily worried or misguided into believing that everything is OK. They give a one-dimensional result but that needs to be put in the context of a woman’s medical history by an expert”

The kits measure levels of three hormones, Inhibin A, AMH and FSH. When a woman approaches menopause, the first two hormones´ levels drop, while the FSH rises. The tests can tell how many eggs a woman has left, but cannot show whether the eggs are best for insemination or not, because they cannot tell the quality of eggs: they become less fertile as they grow older. This factor is crucial for women who are trying to get pregnant.

Professor David Baird of Edinburgh University said that “these kits cannot pinpoint the menopause. A woman’s chronological age is a better predictor of fertility”, and that “the main factor when you are trying to have a baby is the quality of the egg. You can have lots of eggs left in the ovaries but they are still no good if they are of poor quality”

Specialists all agree in the fact that the kits are actually “a waste of money” and, that other methods are more reliable. As Dr Fishel put it: “My advice is for a couple to spend their money on seeing a professional. Failing that they should go and have a romantic meal out and a good bottle of wine.”