I had not yet heard of it when she told me about it. "Are You Able to Get Pregnant?" is plastered in huge letters on the box. "A simple test to determine your ability to get pregnant" it touts. What. The. Fuck.
The commercial oversimplifies EVERYTHING! It makes it seem that all you need to do is pee on a stick and it'll tell you if your infertile or not. Argh! Anyone who knows anything about infertility knows it's just not this simple.
Once I went to their website, I read they were very good in explaining what it's actually testing for. It's an FSH urine test. Which ~is~ a good indicator of your ovarian reserve. But it's simply NOT a test to determine if you are fertile or not. What is this going to do to women? Are they going to use this test, think they are fine and not go for any other testing, thinking "all is good"? There are just too many factors to allow one test be called a "fertility indicator".
It just pisses me off beyond belief. Infertility is FINALLY getting the respect it deserves. People are starting to learn about it. Women are finally starting to understand their bodies. And just when things are going right, shit happens that pushes infertility back about a decade. Octomom made the general public think IVF = 8 babies. And now First Response is making women think one test can tell you if you are fertile or not.
** Update - Read Laurel's (her blogging name is Bay) comment, which is the 7th comment down I think. She talks about how thyroid issues can throw this test off and adds even another layer of pissedoffness about this test!
Have any of you seen this commercial? What are your thoughts?
33 comments:
I found it insulting. So many people know so little about IF and this is going to make it worse. Also, I worry about people like a friend of mine who was so in denial she didn't see a doctor until 2.5 years of actively TTC. This test would have come out ok for her they had MFI, I wonder if this would have caused her to take longer?
SO irritating. Just because you have a good FSH level does NOT mean you can get pregnant.
Oh god no. That's just fucking brutal.
I saw the commercial, and it made me very upset. Does it detect PCOS? Endometriosis? Sperm issues? They are so many factors in TTC, I wouldn't want someone to have false hope because this random test said they were fine.
I saw this commercial a while back and felt the same way. I turned to my husband and just shook my head. It should be illegal to post such a misleading ad like that.
I have no experience what so ever with IF but I did see the box in target and my first thought was dang that is a super cheap HPT, it was something like 2 bucks and than I read what it was I thought it sounded bogus. I wouldn’t expect to be able to pee on something and have it tell me if I was able to get pg or not, but that’s just me.
When I saw the commercial I pretty much had the same reaction as you! It's crap like this that makes my family members think that IF isn't *that* big a deal..
Well, as you know from our bitch fest regarding this stupid pee stick you know how I feel. And, as we talked about, I am concerned about the test and women who have, for example, undiagnosed or uncontrolled thyroid issues. I am hypothyroid and if I would have taken this test before being tested or treated for this disease, it would have told me that I am infertile. Can you image my heart break to find out from a PEE STICK that I supposedly can't have children. RAGE at the thought of it. So yes, it is freaking irritating and instead of educating women on how to find out FOR REAL if you are able to conceive it makes it all seem so EASY. Which in turn, makes uneducated people think it's EASY. Which in turn, heh, makes us all PISSED. And we should be.
I saw the commercials, thought they were full of shit. I didn't go in to more detail on it however.
The only good thing that can come from this is that if a woman does pee on it and it shows negative, or whatever the results are, then it can spur her to go see her doctor. But it should clearly state in the information inside the box that FSH is not the only indicator of fertility.
I don't like the infertility test. There are so many factors, like you said. For the most part, a woman has to try for a year if she has no diagnosed problems. There is no easy way around that. This test makes it seem like an easy fix.
I thought the commercial was very misleading. They should be required to explain that there are many causes for infertility and that this test is only an indicator of a possible egg supply or quality issue. They should also have to graphic the information something like "see your doctor if you have been trying for a year or for six months if you are over 35." But I have to admit that my immediate reaction when I saw this ad was "oh yay! a pee stick that I can pee on and get a positive!" (I admit I'm a recovering POAS addict!)
Yes this test pisses me off too.....I saw an ad on webmd a while back on the TTC 12+mo board. Yeah, it make it look like IF is that easy.
Honestly Nancy, I think you should write a nice letter to the company informing them of how stupid this product is and why. Coming from someone with IF experience, it may have a greater impact.
Don't shoot me. I took this test x2.
Let me preface my comments with this:
A) I have not seen the commercial and can't comment on it.
B) I just happened to see the test on the shelf the day AF showed.
C) I am a POASholic
D) I have already been pregnant and carried to term.
As I recall, the instructions inside the box did note that this was one indicator only of possible fertility issues. It also said to see your doctor if you had bad results, borderline results or if you had been trying for x mos. I don't remember specifically, but i might still have them. I'll look tonight.
I took it. Two cycles in a row. Both yielded an extremely faint test line - which is supposed to be a good thing. Does it mean anything -no. Had the results been bad, I probably would have immediately called the doctor. Instead, since I have not prevented pregnancy in just over a year and am still not pregnant, I set myself a date of which I WILL call the doc. It's not that I'm in denial that I set a time limit, it is merely to give me some time to get crap together without trying to schedule doctor visits for this day of my cycle or that. Also to see if my DH getting switched to 1st shift might help get the BFP on our own.
Since I'm hogging the blog, why not go on.... I will say that the one commerical FR put out back in 2006 about the early results HPT drove me nuts - claiming to detect "a special hormone variant" allowing you to test up to 5 days before your missed period. It's just hcg, same as every other HPT on the market.
It is probably true that many women that buy this test will be less than impressed with what it DOES do, after reading the insert inside and realizing what it does NOT do.
I saw that commercial too, it's beyond irritating. I can see it going another way too, teenage girls thinking that if the test says they can't get pregnant than they won't be able to and won't use birth control because of it. I think this stupid test might end up making more people jump to extreme measures earlier in order to get pregnant. Clomid and other fertility meds are already over used in women that just take a little longer to conceive than they would like, I can't imagine what a test like this can do to that as well. Then of course what you said too, those who might need help won't seek it because they think they're just fine.
We've seen the commerical too. So stupid, I hope that not too many people waste their money on this crap!
I haven't seen the commercial but I have seen it in the store. It did seem very misleading to me and it's really a shame that this product even exists.
OMG!!! I saw this comercial for the first time this weekend. I was instantly irritated.
Although I was never diagnosed with infertility it took me 13 months to get pregnant and we were in the early stages of fertilty testing.
I think this test is going too fool people into thinking there is not a problem when in fact there maybe. Like you said, I think this test may delay people from actually going to the doctor and they could end up wasting valuable time.
So so so so stupid!!
How freaking awful - this really does if'ers a serious disservice.
The first time I saw the commercial I rolled my eyes practically out of my head. It's a lame test that only tests ONE of the many many many factors that could lead to IF. And where's the male version???? hmph, there we go again, always assuming it's OUR problem.
i completely agree!!!! every time i see that commercial, it drives me insane. although, if you take the test, it says you're fine, and continue on for an extended amount of time with no further testing, you're an idiot.
*fun fact* - my mother-in-law asked me if i had used 'one of those pee things where you find out if you can have a baby' before we started this ivf cycle. duh! we're probably fine!!! why hadn't i thought of that?!?! could have saved thousands of dollars!!! ugh.
OMG! Every time that damn commercial comes on I just want to scream. Its the stupidist shit I've ever heard of in my life. I could piss on that stick and it would say "yep your fertile... go populate the earth" but you know that's not happening! I just really feel bad for the people that waste their $ on it.
Now I'm happy that I dvr everything & skip the commercials. That one would totally piss me off. It's not the first one though, I've seen similar tests. It's really as stupid as the male tests (i'll admit, i bought one when we were about 7 months in). The male ones only test quantity, none of the other factors that could keep them from getting to the egg.
It's really not testing that can be done from home!!!
Have not seen the commercial living in SA BUT from what I've just read - what a load of bullshit!! Good FSH does not mean fertile and can get pregnant! Ask me I know!! FARK! what about male factor? PCOS? Endo? Frigging POF?
(Apologies if everyone else has said this already have not read comments yet - GRRRRRR!)
It hasn't yet hit our shores, but it sounds pretty shit to me.
FSH is only a good indicator of ovarian reserve in "older" women. Not women in their 20s, say, for whom the data are not as cut and dried. So it's a misleading test, by any and all standards (as well as being stupid).
But what's new? A medical/pharma company preying on people's deepest needs and fears. I wonder how, legally, they can get away with making the claims they do.
The commercial oversimplifies, dumbs down, and generally insults those of us who actually know about our body. I HAT it.
I haven't seen it & I am glad! This would piss me off too- well, it ~does~ piss me off!
If the stupid yaz commercial needs a revision to be more accurate- then this one certainly deserves it. I don't care how much it says on the instructions, if the commercial falsely advertises it as a fertility test that can tell you 'if you can get pregnant or not' than I would want to hear what it actually tests on that commercial, not after I freak out & buy the damn test & pour through the instructions!
I have seen the ads and they just make me roll my eyes. It's not that simple and this is just another money guzzler designed to take advantage of women who are having a hard time trying. A good ovarian reserve doesn't mean anything if you don't ovulate, have poor CM, your DH has poor count, etc. And a poor ovarian reserve doesn't necessarily mean no ovarian reserve or no hope. And the absence of a line doesn't give the user a sense of "how bad" it really is.
Super annoying
Ok, so really, how can we let them know that this commercial is insulting? Are you going to write them a letter? Is there a place for comments on their web site??? Take 'em down Nancy! Do it for all of us!
I think it is completely stupid. All they care about is making money. How freaking stupid.
I agree with you 100%. I saw the commercial and was very offended/dumb founded.
I also get annoyed at anything that makes infertility look simple to diagnose and cure. We have a radio commercial for a different RE practice than the one I went to and it grates on my nerves. One of the supposed patients says, "Dr. So&So found and cured my wife's endometriosis and now we have a baby." Don't get me started. You cannot cure endometriosis. You can treat it, you can remove as much as humanly possible, but you cannot cure it. It will most likely come back and the doctor's don't know if it will come back quickly or slowly.
I wanted to make sure you got the word--I have a new blog. I had to shut down be.comi.ng wh.ole due to some privacy issues. You had commented over there a couple of times, so I wanted to make sure you knew of the move. Same me, new digs.
And that test is fucking ridiculous.
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