Ovulation testing

What is ovulation?

Ovulation is part of the normal menstruation cycle, and happens about 14 days before a woman gets her period. It is the release of an egg (ovum) from an ovary; sometimes more than one egg is released from the ovaries.
Once an egg has been released, it enters one of the fallopian tubes and travels towards the uterus (womb). The odds of getting pregnant are highest when there are live sperm in the fallopian tubes at the time of ovulation.

Getting pregnant

Eggs can survive for up to 24 hours after ovulation. So a woman can become pregnant if an egg is fertilised by sperm within 12 to 24 hours of ovulation.
Because sperm can live for up to 7 days inside a woman’s reproductive tract (most sperm tend to live for about 3 to 5 days), it’s possible to conceive if you have sex any time from about a week before ovulation to 24 hours afterwards. But a woman is most fertile from about 5 days before ovulation to the day of ovulation - sometimes called the fertile window.

The diagram below shows what happens during a normal menstrual cycle, including the changing levels of hormones.