Getting pregnant quickly despite autoimmune disease and irregular cycles

Interview Q&A

Dear Ariane, could you please share your personal story with us? How long had you been trying for a baby?

I had been wishing for a child for several years, but of course it only became concrete once I had found the right man in my life and, after a few years together, we wanted to make our dream of having a child come true. This period lasted about 1–1.5 years. The biggest challenge for me was my extremely irregular cycle and the associated uncertainty about whether I even had ovulations. I often went for weeks or even months without any bleeding at all, which made me incredibly insecure.

What challenges did you have to overcome?

When I was younger, I even went two years without menstruating, and I was also diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, the flare-ups of which affected my cycle negatively as well. To make things even harder, my partner and I had to live in a long-distance relationship for work reasons, so we often couldn’t see each other in person for weeks at a time. As my desire to become pregnant grew stronger, these circumstances worried me a lot. By taking folic acid and living a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and a mostly healthy diet, I tried to counteract my inner stress and the flare-ups of the autoimmune disease, in order to develop as much calm as possible so that I could ultimately become pregnant soon.

You had already tried quite a lot. How did that go?

However, these measures only had moderate success for me. I still felt stressed inside because I had absolutely no idea what was really happening in my body in terms of ovulation and my cycle. Aside from the physical side, I am a person of faith and strengthened my hope of finding something that would help me feel more relaxed and ultimately get pregnant — with a big dose of trust in God. That was the main reason why I started looking online for tools, apps or other aids to measure ovulation. That’s how I eventually found OvulaRing.

How did your start with OvulaRing go? We’re of course very interested.

First, I read through the information on the OvulaRing website and — not least because of the experience reports from other users — I felt encouraged again to get to know my body better so I could finally gain the missing knowledge about my individual ovulations. So I contacted my gynecologist promptly. For my health insurance company, which supports the OvulaRing app and provides a cost subsidy for insured people who want to use OvulaRing, she issued the required medical certificate. This meant the financial burden was still manageable. At that point, the regularity of my menstruation had gradually improved again a little, although still with delays — so it still wasn’t ideal.

How was OvulaRing able to support you?

Based purely on my own perception, I suspected that I ovulated after my period — but when it came to the exact timing, using the OvulaRing app showed that my intuition was actually unreliable and misleading. I found that very interesting, surprising, and also relieving. OvulaRing finally gave me the happy certainty of the exact timing of my ovulations and, above all, the basic information that ovulation was actually happening in my body in the first place!

What other experiences did you have with OvulaRing?

All of this relieved me internally and ultimately led to my long‑awaited pregnancy after about three months of using OvulaRing and the accompanying app! So far, my pregnancy has been uncomplicated and relaxed. I’m so grateful that using OvulaRing brought me such a great sense of inner relief, which made it possible for the pregnancy I had been longing for to actually become reality — and in a few months I’ll be able to hold my baby in my arms. On top of that, I got to know my body better!

What would you say is special about OvulaRing?

OvulaRing provides certainty through real, individual body data and therefore makes a significant contribution to helping women look at and understand their personal cycle and their body’s ovulation pattern more authentically. That takes an enormous weight off the mind of a woman who wants to become pregnant so badly!

How easy or pleasant was using OvulaRing? What tips would you give new customers?

Using it is very straightforward and simple. You don’t feel the ring at all when wearing it. Of course, you first have to get used to removing the sensor and reading it out when needed, but over time that becomes second nature as well. It’s important to remove the sensor in sufficient daylight, otherwise it can sometimes be difficult to activate. I once thought it was broken, but the next day in daylight that turned out not to be the case. In the evening I simply didn’t have a strong enough light source, so the sensor wasn’t activated for reading. My tip for new customers is therefore: don’t stress at all, and if you feel uncertain or have questions, contact the OvulaRing team right away. These lovely people always reply and support you calmly and kindly!

What did you learn about your body from using OvulaRing?

The most important thing I learned was that my personal body sensation regarding ovulation turned out to be inaccurate and not in line with the facts. I always thought I could feel ovulation, but OvulaRing’s measurements showed that this wasn’t true. I also learned that I can be very proud of my body and truly grateful, because even under difficult internal and external circumstances such as fever due to illness or stress, it still allowed ovulation to take place.

Did you feel well advised and supported by the OvulaRing team?

Yes, definitely. Email contact was always very friendly and supportive!

Thank you so much for sharing your personal story with us! Is there anything else you would like to pass on to other women who are trying to conceive?

I want to emphasize that it is always worth never giving up and keeping hope for a pregnancy alive within yourself. It can also be good to trust in God — or, depending on your outlook on life, to hold on to the things that give you strength. This doesn’t exclude the idea of some kind of guidance in life as support for that hope. Of course, there are circumstances that are so challenging that, here and there, a wish for a child may still remain unfulfilled.

BUT: it is always worth getting to know yourself, your circumstances and, above all, your own body better and exploring it. That’s why we should remain grateful that we all live in an age in which tools like OvulaRing offer a great, innovative option and support to help us understand our own bodies better — and to uncover some misinformation. The clearer you are about yourself and the more you know about yourself, the greater the chance that the dream of your own child and the motherhood that comes with it will become reality — and that a woman longing for a baby may ultimately still be blessed with it.