Introduction
Trying to conceive can be a tricky process, sadly it’s not as simple as just deciding that you want children. Sometimes you need a little helping hand. There are a number of ways for you to improve your fertility, good sleep, stress management, exercise etc. but natural fertility supplements are one way to help increase your chances of conception.
In this article we will be taking a look at FertilAid for Women, a women’s fertility supplement that promises to help enhance the fertility of women who are trying to conceive. We will take an in-depth look at the ingredients list, assess any claims made by Fairhaven Health (the company who sells this supplement) and help you to decide for yourself whether FertilAid for Women is a supplement that is worth your hard-earned cash.
What Is FertilAid for Women?
FertilAid for Women is a woman’s fertility supplement sold by Fairhaven Health, a Washington-based supplements company who’s aim is to “naturally promote fertility, pregnancy wellness, and breastfeeding success”.
One bottle of FertilAid for Women contains 30 servings of 3 capsules (90 in total) and can be bought from the Fairhaven Health website or from Amazon.com. Each bottle costs $29.95, but you can buy three for $80.88 or $26.96. Based on purchasing three for the lower price of $26.96 each serving costs $0.90.
You are supposed to take three capsules per day, Fairhaven Health recommend taking one capsule with breakfast, one with lunch, and one with dinner. This reduces the risk of stomach discomfort, but if you prefer you can take all three capsules at once. FertilAid for Women is directly marketed at young to middle aged women who are looking to conceive. It promises to optimize reproductive health and increase the rate of conception.
Does FertilAid For Women Work?
One of the first things that strikes us about FertilAid for Women is that it uses a proprietary blend, nothing is more annoying in the supplement world than a product that hides its ingredient dosages. A proprietary blend is like following a recipe on how to bake a cake. You have your flour, eggs, sugar etc … but the recipe book doesn’t tell you how much of each. Is it one egg or 34?
The proprietary blend in FertilAid mentions Chaste tree berry, which has been shown to improve menstruation in women with menstrual disorders – however, does FertilAid contain the 150-250mg recommended dosage? Who knows? There could be 1mg or 500mg!
Because of this, we have to take everything with a pinch of salt. Which is never a good way to review a supplement and is a big red flag. For all we know, every ingredient within this proprietary blend is at the perfect dosage, but without any evidence we can’t be sure.
But for the sake of a simple life, let’s assume that the ingredients are correctly dosed … otherwise the review would have to stop here. To be fair to Fairhaven Health, one reason why they might use a proprietary blend is to prevent other companies from emulating their product. Perhaps this is why they have used one.
The first ingredient that we should take a look at is Red Clover Extract, this supplement ingredient is fantastic for reducing anxiety. A 2009 study by Geller et al found that taking red clover extract slightly reduced anxiety but failed to do anything else (the study wanted to see if it could reduce hot flashes during menopause) [2]. Red clover extract may also reduce depression and improve sleep but does not appear to have any beneficial effect on fertility.
The second ingredient contained within the proprietary blend is para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) which we had never heard of before. According to Wikipedia (PABA wasn’t on any of the usual websites we use for checking supplement ingredients) PABA doesn’t have any potential benefits for fertility. We have no idea what function it is serving.
Next up is Eleuthrerococcus senticosus, an herb that may help to reduce stress. Again, there does not seem to be any link to fertility or pregnancy here. It does seem to have a slight impact on fatigue though, with studies showing that it can increase fatigue resistance during aerobic activity [3].
Chaste Tree Berry (also known as Vitex agnus castus) is a well-known supplement for relieving premenstrual syndrome. As examine.com says Vitex agnus castus “has been shown to be effective at reducing hot flashes, bloating, irritability, sleep disturbances, depressions, various mood disorders and even cramping” [4].
However, is there any evidence that it can increase conception? No. Does it help to regulate menstruation? No. Then what is its purpose here?
Ginkgo biloba is the final ingredient in the proprietary blend, again, it appears to be useful for treating PMS, and may help calm you down by reducing anxiety. But it does not have any effect on fertility. None of the ingredients in the proprietary blend do!
There are other ingredients present in FertilAid for Women though. Lots of vitamins and minerals. These should do a decent job of improving health and may have a knock-on effect on fertility.
Bottom Line: FertilAid for Women is an effective prenatal vitamin supplement, and it may be able to help regulate your menstrual cycle – though this is up for debate. But it does not seem to have any effect on fertility or increasing your chances of conception. Possibly regulating your menstrual cycle is not enough, nor is providing a multivitamin.
Fairhaven Health claim that their supplement offers “powerful fertility enhancing ingredients” but there don’t appear to be any. That being said, it’s still not a bad supplement. The prenatal vitamins are a good idea, and the proprietary blend can help with PMS and may help to regulate your cycle.
The Pros & Cons Of FertilAid For Women
Below is a list of everything that we like about FertilAid for Women, and everything that we do not like.
The Pros
- Prenatal vitamin and mineral supplement is effective
- Ingredients will help to calm you down, reduce anxiety, and may help improve sleep
- Ingredients may help to regulate cycle, which can be beneficial
The Cons
- The use of a proprietary blend is not ideal
- Ingredients will not boost fertility
What Are The FertilAid For Women Ingredients?
As mentioned throughout this article, FertilAid for Women makes use of a proprietary blend alongside the vitamins and minerals. This means that there are certain ingredients that have no dosage. The proprietary blend itself is 620mg though.
620mg Proprietary Blend: Red Clover Extract, PABA, Eleuthrerococcus senticosus, Chaste Tree Berry, Gingko Biloba Extract.
4000IU Vitamin A, 85mg Vitamin C, 400IU Vitamin D, 100 IU Vitamin E, 1.5mg Thiamin, 1.7mg Riboflavin, 20mg Niacin, 2mg Vitamin B6, 600mcg Folate, 6mcg Vitamin B12, 10mg Pantothenic Acid, 18mg Iron, 150mcg Iodine, 320mg Magnesium, 15mg Zinc, 70mcg Selenium, 2mg Copper.
Is FertilAid For Women Safe?
None of the ingredients within FertilAid for Women are unsafe or illegal, they are all fairly normal. Without knowing the dosages of any of the proprietary blend ingredients though, it is impossible to say for certain. However, it would be incredibly unlikely that any of these ingredients would be dosed at toxic levels.
Is FertilAid For Women Suitable For Everyone?
FertilAid for women is suitable for women who are looking to conceive, or for women who are looking to improve their menstruation. It is absolutely not suitable for pregnant women, and there are several warnings on the website and on the packaging to that effect. This is due to certain ingredients either being untested on pregnant women, or certain ingredients being unsafe.
For example, Chaste Berry tree is unsuitable for pregnant or lactating women as it is untested (and may affect lactation). It may also have an affect on estrogen so should be avoided by women who are undergoing therapy for breast cancer [5]. Red clover extract should also be avoided by women with breast cancer for similar reasons [6]. The other ingredients are all perfectly safe, and most of them can be found in a regular multivitamin.
Are There Any FertilAid For Women Reviews From Customers?
Amazon.com is awash with reviews for FertilAid for Women. There are 1,371 with 48% being five-star reviews. However, 21% of reviews are just one-star and a further 8% only gave 2-star reviews. In other reviews of fertility supplement, we’ve talked about the difficulty of giving a review for a supplement where there aren’t measurable results.
If a woman has been trying for a baby for 12 months and then takes a supplement for one week and gets pregnant then they are understandably going to attribute their success to the supplement. But perhaps they were going to get pregnant that week anyway, or perhaps another variable caused the change. The reverse is also true, perhaps the couple got pregnant without the supplement, but would have been pregnant months earlier if they had taken it.
On the whole though, a large percentage of FertilAid for Women gave positive reviews, and we cannot ignore this evidence, even if it is anecdotal. Here are some examples:
“I was trying to conceive for over a year before I tried FertilAid, after one month I was pregnant with twins”
“Happy to say that after one month using FertilAid I am pregnant”
“I believe that these pills and our prayers helped us to get pregnant”
Our Final Verdict On FertilAid For Women
FertilAid for Women is a tough supplement to review. On the one hand, it doesn’t seem to have any ingredients that boost fertility. This is one of their claims. The other claims that they make, that their product is a good prenatal multivitamin and that their product can help to regulate menstruation do appear to be true.
The vitamins and minerals contained within may not specifically boost fertility, but they may be able to help. A healthy woman with a regular menstrual cycle is probably going to be more likely to conceive than an unhealthy woman with an unregular menstrual cycle.
However, it could be that while we review this supplement, we are being influenced by the customer reviews. We try to stay as objective as possible, but it is difficult to do so when the top ten reviews on Amazon all contain photos of sonograms or healthy smiling babies!
FertilAid for Women may help some women to conceive, but it won’t help everyone. It does not appear to be anything special when compared to other fertility supplements out there, but if you are looking for something to take while trying for a baby this is a perfectly decent choice.