This post is in partnership with Modern Fertility, the affordable at-home fertility test.
A few things have changed since I took my at-home Modern Fertility test two years ago.
Like many other women in their thirties—I was 33—I was constantly thinking about motherhood as this ticking time clock. My career, in many ways, felt like it was just getting started. You spend the majority of your life thinking (and being told) that you're "too young" to do something. Suddenly, you turn around and you're too old. What the—
I felt that I was already late. I worried that I might miss my opportunity altogether. So much is tied up in thinking about motherhood—opportunity, aspiration, happiness, fear, guilt—the list goes on.
I initially wrote this piece out of curiosity. Like many young women, I had no idea "where" I was fertility-wise, and how could I have known? This test gave me insight into my own fertility and the knowledge-fueled power to decide what to do next.
Spoiler alert: I now have a bubbly son, Woody, who was born on the first day of Quarantine and who is about to destroy his first birthday cake in a matter of days. Here's my story about taking the Modern Fertility test.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in February 2019
Thinking About Fertility
My twenties were fun and awful, all at once. I had a good job that I liked. I dated a few men who were nice...enough. I spent the majority of that decade without a thought about the trajectory of my career, a serious long-term partner, or impending motherhood other than “it would happen, eventually.” I was living paycheck to paycheck. As long as I could laugh with my friends, afford my monthly MetroCard, and pay my rent, I was happy.
So, what happened—and how am I suddenly at this point of near panic? I started to see my friends get married and have children. I think that, when that happens, we start to imagine ourselves doing the same. When we imagine our own lives with a forever partner and offspring, one of two things happens—we either can’t relate at all or we deeply want to start a family. I think we have already established that I fall into the latter group.
Like most of us, I am not sure about my fertility or my health surrounding all of that. Up until now, there is nowhere convenient to gather that kind of intimate information about your own body. I have joked that “there is only one way to find out,” but that’s not really practical. If I judge off my mother, who birthed my youngest sister at age 42, I have 8ish years to chill out.
The thing is, I don’t really know. Enter Modern Fertility.
What is Modern Fertility?
Modern Fertility is a home test that measures your eight fertility-related hormones (if you aren’t taking hormonal birth control—we will get more into that.) Before you ask, yes, you can ask for a similar test at your OB/GYN.
However, they're not really sitting on the shelves—and you would have to know to proactively ask for the full panel. To make it even more difficult, proactive fertility hormone tests are not covered by federal insurance—Boo! In some states, you might be covered—if you can prove that you have been trying to get pregnant for at least a year.
Depending on your coverage, the same tests, conducted in a doctor’s office, can run you anywhere from $800 to $1500. Plus, you have to go to the doctor several times. By comparison, Modern Fertility’s test is $159. Oh, did I mention that you can use your HSA or FSA to pay for it? Because you can.
So, I decided to go ahead and take the Modern Fertility test. Since I am not currently on hormonal birth control, it tested my eight fertility-related hormones (If you are taking hormonal birth control, Modern Fertility tests your AMH levels.) These hormones are:
From this information, you will learn what your hormone levels mean for menopause onset, egg freezing, IVF, and the likelihood of conditions like POI or PCOS. These results will also give you a general overview of your health. While I am not a scientist, some of the folks over at Modern Fertility, including their fertility nurses, know a lot more about all things reproductive.
Below is my personal experience in receiving the test, collecting the blood sample for the test, and how I received the results. At the time of writing this introduction, I have no idea what I am going to learn.
Either way, knowledge is power. So let’s get some.
About Actually Drawing Your Own Blood
I have “not the best” circulation, so I actually had to use all three pricks (thanks to Gordon for doing the second and third pricks). By the last one, I got a little desperate and I really wrung my ring finger to make sure I was producing blood.
If you’re squeamish about blood, go to a Quest Diagnostics. I go there all the time to have blood drawn. I always have nice, quick, clean experiences. Also, they are pretty much everywhere.
If you can’t get to a Quest, or you want to do it yourself as I did, buckle up. The biggest piece of advice I can give you is this—YOU MUST WATCH THE VIDEO. The instructions are specific and you need to watch the video to make sure you’re drawing your blood correctly and safely.
My second piece of advice? Give yourself time to draw blood. It takes a little bit of time for the blood to collect enough to actually drip (and it needs to drip!) If you can go out for a five-minute run before to get your blood flowing, do it. If I had to do it over, that’s what I would have done.
About Blood Drying
It took my blood a few hours to dry. In the end, I really did get a decent amount out, so it sort of pooled. Make sure to wait until it’s really dry. While I was waiting, I messaged someone at MF about it and here was her response:
“If it has all been absorbed then that's a good sign, sometimes it can take a little longer to dry and that okay. Perfectly fine to pop in the mail a bit later today - you just want to be sure it will not smear when you pop it in the envelope as this can cause the lab to be unable to process it. I would wait a bit longer just to be sure :).”
Let your blood dry. You do need to be timely and get it in the mail, but make sure it is actually dry. Again, if you go to Quest Diagnostics, they can worry about pricking, blood drying, and mailing out results. Just sayin'.
What I am expecting (Before I’m ever expecting)
I read basically everything on Modern Fertility’s website, so I know I am not getting a STOP or GO message in the mail. I know that I am not going to find out exactly how fertile (or infertile) I am. I am not going to get a picture of my remaining eggs all huddled together like it’s the last day of summer camp (bummer).
What I will get is an overview of how my hormones are doing.
What I already expect is there to be an exclamation point next to my TSH levels. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about a year ago and I have been seeing an endocrinologist to keep my levels in check. While they are “in check,” my hypothyroidism has some scary potential side effects as it relates to becoming pregnant, carrying to term, and having a healthy baby.
Having hypothyroidism means that I could experience early pregnancy loss, hypertension, and preterm delivery. It’s also associated with low birth rate babies and a lower child IQ.
So, yeah. That’s all a little scary, but that’s why my endocrinologist told me to call her the moment I might be pregnant, to adjust my medication and take all the steps I can to ensure a safe pregnancy. And honestly? I am expecting that the results will be good.
Whether ignorantly or not, I base my potential pregnancy experience on those of my mother. My superhero mom gave (natural!) birth to ten, yes ten, babies.
All of us weighed over eight pounds (even her twins were eight pounds apiece) and we are all healthy to this day. That’s a pretty good record. Oh, and she never experienced any nausea. In Lizzy K's own words, “If I got sick during pregnancy, there would only be one of you.”
Knowledge is Power
In the spirit of keeping you informed along the way, Modern Fertility sent me an email to let me know the lab had received my test.
Anyone who has ever ordered blood work or lab work knows that waiting for the results can be the most painful part. Often, nobody lets you know anything. Your doctor typically makes you drag your body into her office before she will ever tell you the tiniest detail about your results.
So, it’s already nice that I don’t have to be sweaty and panicked about whether or not my results even landed at a lab. I also sent the test around the crush of holiday mail, so this felt like a legitimate fear.
From this email, I wait approximately 10 business days to see my results.
Receiving My Fertility Results
I’m all about TMI in these circumstances. I don’t mind sharing my exact numbers, what they might mean, and whether or not they scare the crap out of me (they kind of do, but that's okay). I think it’s important—as women—to share what you can, about your own experiences, when (and if!) you can. If it helps just one other panicked 33-year-old thinking about her fertility, then it’s well worth it.
So, here are my results, with numbers and everything.
Since I am not currently taking hormonal birth control, all of my hormones have been tested. As expected, my TSH levels came out pretty high. So high, in fact, that my results came with an offer to retake the test for free. Thanks, Modern Fertility!
Since the high TSH levels weren’t a surprise, I let the team at Modern Fertility know that I had hypothyroidism. Armed with this information, I gave my endocrinologist a call to adjust my levothyroxine. Already, I gained some insights from the Modern Fertility test in relation to my overall health.
The rest of the results? Honestly, they gave me a bit of worry. My AMH was low, which could indicate that I have slightly fewer eggs in my reserve. My FSH also came in slightly high, which could indicate that my eggs are slightly less receptive to hormonal signals necessary for them to develop.
After the Fertility Test—Now What?
Overall, the results I received were meh—hormonally speaking. However, the quality of information I received on what these levels could mean is seriously invaluable. Alongside these results come detailed explanations for what they could mean, what steps to take next, and general tips on maintaining good health.
Like with any blood test, there could always be strange anomalies and upticks in certain hormones. That’s why it’s so important to keep an eye on your hormones—potentially on an annual basis—to ensure that you are as informed as you can be.
The test is not an exact science, but it’s a light in a tunnel that was otherwise pitch black for me. Thanks again, Modern Fertility.
This post is in partnership with Modern Fertility, the affordable at-home fertility test.
