Fertility tests using urine are increasingly well-known—they’re practical for those trying to conceive who want to detect their ovulation. But did you know there’s more than one type of fertility test? There is also a rather uncommon method that, back in my days of trying to conceive, was quite popular: the saliva method.
The fertility testing method involving saliva and ferns consists of a way to know when fertility is approaching by looking at the crystals in saliva. Yes! It can also help indicate fertility if a woman uses it to her advantage. The fertility test uses crystallized body salts to identify the most fertile day. But what does that mean? Let me explain:
A woman has a significant increase in estrogen and LH during the ovulatory period, which stimulate the production of the enzymes mucin and sodium in the body. As the most fertile day approaches, the amount of body salts formed in dried saliva gets larger. Dried saliva is used to help detect this increase. The method involves collecting a sample of the woman’s saliva on a proper slide and letting it dry until the liquid has evaporated completely. Once dry, the saliva is then magnified by a specific device, such as the Ovatel or even a toy microscope. There, you check how intense the presence of the ferns is—or even their absence. The more ferns present, the more fertile the woman is.
Saliva Test Precautions
The woman collecting her saliva should wait at least 2 hours without eating, drinking, or smoking for an accurate result. Interfering in this stage can prevent a proper result, making the test invalid. Washing your hands thoroughly and also cleaning the slide you’ll use is necessary to carry out the test properly. In the video below we can see how the appearance of crystal ferns progresses, indicating the approach of the fertile period due to the increased estrogen in the body.
The saliva fertility test is relatively inexpensive. However, a device is needed to perform the test, as it’s necessary to magnify the images by at least 100 times to diagnose the fertile period. The required devices range from R$50 to R$250, depending on where you buy them and the way the ferns are magnified. Toy microscopes cost around R$50 including slides, and are sold at any toy store and at various online stores.
Ovatel was developed specifically for this purpose, as a fertility test. However, it is unfortunately not that easily available, both due to market availability (it’s imported) and its price, which is around R$200. However, the benefit of this method is that it’s a one-time investment and will still retain its value even if you stop using it. If in good condition, the device can be sold later for a reasonable price. The saliva fertility test works perfectly well just as ovulation tests using urine do. For those who like to explore every new possibility, this is also an option since the investment is one-time only, even if it’s higher than usual. It’s up to each woman trying to conceive to decide if this kind of fertility test will be useful and worthwhile for her.
Tip for buying conventional ovulation tests.
