Sexual Health & Fertility Test Kits
Increasing in popularity, home self test kits are available for a range of sexual health issues meaning you get all the privacy and convenience you want whilst testing for STD's, HIV and even pregnancy.
There are a number of home testing kits on the market which help you to understand the status of your sexual health and also your chances of conceiving. For many people these home kits provide complete anonymity on what are often very sensitive health issues.
QuickLinks
+ To order STI Home Testing Kits……
+ To order female fertility home testing kits…
+ To order male fertility home testing kits…….
+ Buy an ovulation home test kit.
+ Buy a home pregnancy test kit.
Sexual Health
Home STI Testing
Sexually Transmitted Infections, STI’s, are bacteria or viruses passed from one person to another through sexual contact. Sometimes you will see them referred to as sexually transmitted diseases-STD’s or venereal diseases. Some STI’s have symptoms, others do not. You can go to a sexual health clinic where a doctor or nurse will examine you and carry out a test. For many people though, who cannot take time off work or maybe feel embarrassed, carrying out a home STI test is a good option.
What STI’s Can Be Tested?
A range of STI’s can be tested at home including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, gardnerella, mycoplasma, ureaplasma and herpes.
When Should You Take A STI Test?
It depends on when you last had sex and what you are testing for. Chlamydia and gonorrhoea for example can be detected from 2 weeks after sex whilst syphilis can take between 4-12 weeks. Some STI home test providers suggest that you should not take the tests if you are showing symptoms, instead you should go to a sexual health clinic or speak to your GP.
How Does STI Home Testing Work?
You will receive your test in discreet packaging. You can with most brands create a secure online account and your sample may be either urine, blood, a swab or stool depending on the test. Most results will be sent to you in 2-5 days. Depending on the brand you purchase most providers will put you in contact with medical professionals who can advise on treatment should that be needed. In fact, the only difference between home testing and testing in a clinic is often the way the blood is taken-in a clinic it would be from your vein, at home it is collected by asking you to prick your finger.
It is important to note that at home STI tests are not replacing your doctor and they are not a diagnostic service. The advice is always to seek medical advice if you are worried. A home STI test is simply a way of providing you with information about your sexual health.
What Age Do You Have To Be To Get A Home STI Kit?
Many test providers will not offer test kits to people under 18. If you are under 18 and are concerned about your sexual health, then do speak to your GP or visit a sexual health clinic.
How Are STI’s Treated?
Bacterial infections like chlamydia, gonorrhoea or syphilis are treated with antibiotics. HIV, herpes and hepatitis B and C are caused by viruses and you will need anti-viral medication. There are not cures for all of these diseases, but many can be managed through medication.
Fertility Home Test Kits
Female Fertility Test
There are a number of female fertility tests including full female hormone tests, progesterone tests and ovarian reserve tests. They are all intended for women who want to conceive and are interested to know how fertile they are based on their hormones.
What Do The Tests Do?
Full hormone fertility tests look at 4 key hormones-follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin and oestradiol. FSH is the hormone responsible for stimulating the growth of egg bearing follicles in your ovaries. LH is responsible for ovulation and prolactin for the production of breast milk and oestradiol for the development of secondary sexual characteristics.
Progesterone tests helps you to understand if you are ovulating normally. Progesterone is a hormone whose function is to stimulate the thickening of the uterine lining.
The ovarian reserve test will help you determine how many eggs you have left. This test can be most helpful to women considering IVF. It measures the amount of anti-mullerian hormone in the blood.
When Should You Take Fertility Tests?
For most female hormone tests the test needs to be collected on certain days of your menstrual cycle-depending on each test.
Male Fertility Tests
Sperm Count
This test completed at home will measure the concentration of sperm in your ejaculate. Many will provide you with results in 30 minutes.
What Does The Test Do?
Low sperm count can be a reason why pregnancy doesn’t occur. Tests like these allow you to understand what your sperm count is like. There are also some tests which will look very specifically at progressive motile sperm cells-the sperm that can fertilise an egg.
The results of these tests are not a yes or no but rather they will tell you what your sperm count is like, remember that to have a ‘normal’ sperm quality you need to have a minimum of 5 million progressive motile cells/ml.
Male Hormone Tests
Whilst sperm is obviously very important in male fertility so is overall male health. There are a number of kits on the market which will test a man’s hormone levels, which can in turn impact on semen quality.
Many kits will test testosterone, free androgen index, prolactin, sex hormone binding globulin and oestradiol. Hormonal imbalance is proven to have a negative impact on infertility.
Ovulation And Pregnancy Home Test Kits
Home test kits can tell you when you are ovulating and also if you are pregnant or not. Ovulation test kits are a great way to maximise your chances of conception as they will tell you when you are ovulating, and a pregnancy test kit will tell you if you are pregnant or not.
Ovulation Home Test Kits
Ovulation kits measure the levels of the hormone LH-luteinizing hormone in your urine which determines when you are ovulating and hence when is the optimum time you could get pregnant. As ovulation approaches so the levels of LH increase, this spike is known as the LH surge. About 36 hours after the surge ovulation occurs. Most test kits supply you with several test strips, these look and feel like paper. By weeing on the strip, the test will tell you whether you are ovulating or not. There are also tests on the market which detect not just LH but also oestrogen, these two hormones combined indicate when you are at your most fertile.
Pregnancy Home Test Kits
Pregnancy home test kits are a way of detecting if you are pregnant in the privacy of your own home. They work by detecting the hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) in your urine This hormone is produced in the body when you are pregnant. Pregnancy kits vary, very sensitive ones can detect pregnancy even before you miss the first day of your period, others will not show a result so early. You can obtain free pregnancy test kits from sexual health clinics and from community contraceptive clinics.