Introduction
When it comes to getting pregnant, most people expect it to be an easy journey. Decide to get pregnant, fall pregnant immediately, and then it’s just nine months until your life changes forever. Actually, it is rarely that straightforward, and as we age the harder it can be to become pregnant. There are many reasons for this, and it is important to remember that both men and women can be infertile.
For men, there are hundreds of male fertility supplements to choose from, and women too are surrounded by fertility supplements, and fertility teas. In this article we will be looking at one such product. A fertility tea sold by Pink Stork.
We will take a look at the science behind the ingredients, analyze whether the claims made by Pink Stork are accurate, and help you to decide for yourself whether Pink Stork Fertility Tea is the right product for you.
What Is Pink Stork Fertility Tea?
Pink Stork is a fertility-based supplement company that has been running since 2015, the company was started by Florida mum-of-four Amy. After struggling through her first three pregnancies with nausea, infections, and morning sickness brought on by a condition known as Hyperemesis Gravidarum, Amy decided to try and find a solution. Her fourth pregnancy was a revelation.
By looking at her health (from her vitamin and mineral intake, to her gut health) Amy was able to avoid many of the nasty side effects that had affected her first three pregnancies. After the birth, she decided to help other mums with their pregnancies. Thus, Pink Stork was born.
Fertility Tea by Pink Stork is a caffeine-free herbal supplement that comes in (you guessed it) tea form. One pack of Fertility Tea contains 30 servings (cups) and costs just $11.99 on the Pink Stork website. Fertility Tea is also available from Amazon.com. Each cup costs just $0.40 and you are advised to drink between one and three cups of Fertility Tea per day.
Fertility Tea is solely marketed at women who are looking to increases the chances of conception. It promises to “support a normal cycle, support hormone levels, and support overall women’s wellness”.
Does Pink Stork Fertility Tea Work?
Pink Stork Fertility Tea is an interesting supplement to look at, while the name makes it sound like it is designed to increase the chances of conception and improve pregnancy health. The ingredients tend to point to Pink Stork Fertility Tea being more about dealing with PMS and regulating menstrual flow.
This is also not the type of fertility tea that you should continue drinking once you become pregnant. In fact, it could potentially be very dangerous to do so. If you compare it to another fertility supplement such as Fertility Blend for Women, you can see the very different approaches. FBfW looks at ways to increase the risk of conception, by containing antioxidants that can protect the reproductive system, or ingredients that can boost blood flow and increase endometrial thickness.
On the other hand, you have Pink Stork Fertility Tea, that focuses instead on menstruation and reducing the nasty effects of PMS. But we’re jumping ahead of ourselves here, let’s take a look at the ingredients.
The first ingredient mentioned is red raspberry leaf, an ingredient that has been used in fertility teas for years. There is evidence that it can help to shorten labor. A 1999 study found that raspberry leaf tea could be taken safely during pregnancy and can help shorten labor as well as lower the likelihood of a caesarean section being required [1]. However, this only seems to apply when taken during pregnancy and Pink Stork Fertility Tea is designed to be taken beforehand.
The next ingredient is vitex agnus-castus, also known as Chaste Tree. This ingredient is well-known for being a high-quality supplement for the treatment of severe PMS. A 2010 study by Ma et al looked at the effectiveness of vitex agnus-castus on Chinese women who suffered from moderate to severe premenstrual syndrome [2]. The study found it to be very effective at reducing the effects.
The third ingredient is stinging nettle and to be honest, we’re not sure for what purpose it has been added. It doesn’t appear to have any benefits that affect conception, fertility, or menstruation.
Next up is Lady’s Mantle, also known as Alchemilla vulgaris. This ingredient may be effective at regulating and reducing heavy menstrual flow, however there is a lack of evidence to support this at present. It may also be effective reducing pain during menstruation. Again, a lack of evidence for this at the moment.
Passionflower is the next ingredient, but again, there is no real reason for its conclusion. It may help to reduce anxiety but appears to have zero effect on reproduction or menstrual health.
Peppermint is another ingredient contained in Pink Stork Fertility Tea, other than it being able to reduce nausea [3], this is another ingredient that seems to be there for taste rather than effectiveness. The last ingredient is stevia, which is just a natural sweetener that is used instead of sugar.
The Bottom Line: Pink Stork Fertility Tea does not seem to have any effect on fertility, it may help to make you feel better while suffering through moderate PMS, but that’s about it. Unless we’re missing something obvious here, there doesn’t appear to be a single ingredient that can justify its inclusion.
Red raspberry leaf may be an effective supplement for shortening labor, but it only seems to work when taken during pregnancy. Pink Stork Fertility Tea cannot be taken during pregnancy due to several ingredients being unsafe for pregnant women!
The Pros & Cons Of Pink Stork Fertility Tea
Here is a list of everything that we like and everything that we don’t like about Pink Stork Fertility Tea:
Pros
- May help to regulate menstrual blood flow
- Proven to reduce the symptoms of moderate PMS
- May help reduce nausea
Cons
- No conclusive scientific evidence to suggest that the product will improve fertility
- Uses a proprietary blend, which masks the dosage of each ingredient
- May be dangerous if used while pregnant
- Most effective ingredient only works when taken during pregnancy
What Are The Pink Stork Fertility Tea Ingredients?
Because Pink Stork uses a proprietary blend for its ingredients rather than giving individual dosages, we can only say that the entire product 2.5g. Here are the ingredients:
Organic red raspberry leaf, organic chaste tree berries, organic nettle, organic lady’s mantle, organic passionflower, organic stevia, organic peppermint.
Is Pink Stork Fertility Tea Safe?
Yes, provided that you are in good health you should be absolutely fine taking Pink Stork Fertility Tea. None of the ingredients are banned, nor are they marked as unsafe.
Is Pink Stork Fertility Tea Suitable For Everyone?
No. It is a fertility tea for women who are trying to improve their chances of becoming pregnant, that’s a very niche customer base. If you are not a woman trying to get pregnant then definitely avoid this product.
Pink Stork Fertility Tea is for the most part harmless, but there is one group of women who should absolutely avoid it at all costs. Women who are already pregnant. To be fair to Pink Stork they make this pretty clear in their marketing and on the packaging. But it bears repeating.
Lady’s Mantle should not be taken by pregnant women as there are some reports that it can cause a miscarriage by triggering vaginal bleeding. Passionflower may also be dangerous as it could potentially cause the uterus to contract [4]. Vitex agnus-castus is also not recommended to be taken while pregnant as it may cause complications.
Are There Any Pink Stork Fertility Tea Reviews From Customers?
There are thousands of positive reviews on Amazon.com for Pink Stork Fertility Tea, with an average score of 4.1 stars out of 5 from 1,032 customer reviews. 64% of those scores were five star. Almost all of the five star scores are from women who became pregnant while taking it.
“Not sure if it is a coincidence or not but one cycle after I started taking fertility tea I became pregnant”
“We tried it and I finally ovulated, and we conceived on our first try. Our Pink Stork baby is due September”
“I took this along with my fertility meds and I’m expecting my baby in January”
Our Final Verdict On Pink Stork Fertility Tea
As you can see from the reviews section, there are a lot of happily pregnant women who attribute their success to Pink Stork Fertility Tea. How can this be when we’ve found almost no scientific reason why it would work?
Well, our current theory is that the Pink Stork Fertility Tea works as an effective placebo. Think about it, you’ve been trying to get pregnant for six months but no luck. Then you take Pink Stork Fertility Tea for 2 months and suddenly you’re pregnant. Got to be the tea, right? Well, not necessarily. Another way of looking at this would be … what if it was going to take you eight months to get pregnant and this tea was just a waste of money?
If you pay close attention to some of the review, you can see that the tea is often taken alongside other vitamins, or medication recommended by professionals. Could it perhaps be the prescribed medication that helped rather than the tea? Probably.
Sometimes in life it can be hard to argue with a ton of anecdotal evidence. In this review we are basically saying that we don’t think that Pink Stork Fertility Tea has anything special that will help you get pregnant. This is not the case with other fertility supplements we have reviewed. On the other hand, we have 600+ five-star reviews from pregnant women.
If you want to try Pink Stork Fertility Tea, then go right ahead. It’s inexpensive, harmless, and there is always a chance that we’re wrong. But from a purely scientific look at the ingredients, we’re not seeing how it can work.