When a woman charts her cycles using the Fertility Awareness Method, she’ll rarely need to use OPK’s (Ovulation Predictor Kits). Why?
Well, if she’s trying to AVOID pregnancy, these little strips aren’t designed for that, so she shouldn’t use them… EVER!
And if she’s trying to ACHIEVE pregnancy, the class she took with a qualified Fertility Awareness Educator and her cycle’s chart will usually give her all the information she needs.
OPKs are looking for a hormone called LH that “usually" makes its debut 24 hours-ish before ovulation occurs. Having a positive OPK just means that she “might" ovulate, but doesn’t mean that ovulation took place. While they can be helpful for some women who are TTC, OPKs can also be frustrating if they’re not used correctly. These are some other reasons I’m not the biggest fan of them:
- They can be pricey! Buying OPKs in a store can be outrageously expensive; online you can find 100 for $30.
- They are designed for the “average" LH concentration for the “average" woman (and I’ve yet to meet this so-called “average" woman). So there could be false positives and false negatives.
- Some women test positive all the time. Other women test negative all the time. And a lot of the test results are difficult to interpret.
If you want more information about interpreting your OPK results or (better yet!) want to learn more about your body using the Fertility Awareness Method, contact me for information about upcoming classes or to schedule a private consultation!
