Don’t believe the hype. ‘Egg timer’ tests can’t reliably predict your chance of conceiving or menopause timing

By Tessa Copp, Jenny Doust & Karin Hammarberg

Many women who want to have children and are getting older worry about their fertility. The “egg timer” blood test is marketed as an empowering way to give women insights to help them plan when to have children.

Online companies are now also selling the test directly to consumers to do at home, promoting the test as a way for women to decide when to have a baby, even if they aren’t thinking of having one any time soon.

But it can’t reliably predict the likelihood of pregnancy or how long it would take to get pregnant.

Despite this, egg timer testing is promoted to women not undergoing IVF as a way to assess their current and future fertility.