How to Read Your Labs When You’re Trying to Get Pregnant

If you’ve ever stared at a stack of lab results and felt completely lost, you’re not alone. Many couples come to me saying they’ve been told, “Everything looks normal,” yet they’re still struggling to conceive. That disconnect—between what the paper says and what your body is telling you—can be one of the most frustrating parts of the fertility journey.

The biggest missing piece when it comes to fertility labs is that “normal” doesn’t mean optimal. And when it comes to trying to grow your family, the difference between those two words can be life-changing. Let’s walk through the key labs, the red and green flags to look for, and 10 simple steps you can follow to start understanding your results with confidence.

Thyroid Health: An Overlooked Fertility Hero

Your thyroid might be small, but it has a big say in your reproductive health. A sluggish thyroid can throw off ovulation, make your cycles irregular, or even increase the risk of miscarriage.

• Green Flag: A TSH between about 1.0–2.5 and balanced Free T3 and Free T4. Making sure TPO antibodies are negative is important, too (this one often goes unchecked!).
• Red Flag: A TSH creeping above 3.0 or the presence of TPO or thyroglobulin antibodies (a clue your immune system is attacking your thyroid).

Even if your labs fall into the conventional “normal” range, subtle shifts can have a big impact on fertility. This is where functional medicine looks beyond the standard cutoffs.

Hormones in Sync

Think of your hormones as a dance—they’re meant to rise and fall in rhythm with your cycle. When they’re out of step, conception can be harder.

• Green Flag: Strong progesterone levels in the second half of your cycle (the luteal phase), which helps an embryo implant and thrive. The rest of your hormones should be checked around day 3, looking for a 1:1 balance between FSH and LH, and healthy estradiol levels that fall in the follicular phase range (ideal levels will be completely different for the luteal phase).
• Red Flag: Low progesterone or high testosterone that can disrupt ovulation and cause irregular cycles. Imbalances between FSH and LH may indicate PCOS, and high or low estradiol levels can affect the ability for implantation to occur.

These patterns tell us more than a single snapshot ever could, which is why timing matters when labs are drawn.

Blood Sugar Balance

Blood sugar might not be the first thing you think of when trying to conceive, but it can make or break hormonal balance. Insulin resistance—often invisible on the surface—can disrupt ovulation and affect egg quality.

• Green Flag: A fasting glucose under 90 and stable fasting insulin levels.
• Red Flag: Rising fasting glucose, elevated fasting insulin, or an A1C above 5.4.

If you’ve been struggling without answers, don’t overlook this piece of the puzzle.

Nutrients & Inflammation: The Foundations of Fertility

Your body needs the right building blocks to support conception and a healthy pregnancy. Vitamin D, B12/folate, iron levels, and others all play crucial roles in egg quality, hormone balance, and immune function.

• Green Flag: Vitamin D levels in the 60–80 range and steady iron, iron saturation, and B12/folate.
• Red Flag: Deficiencies, which can show up as fatigue, irregular cycles, or recurrent loss.

Add to that inflammation markers like hs-CRP and homocysteine—when elevated, they may signal hidden imbalances or autoimmune activity that make conception harder.

10 Simple Steps to Reading Your Labs for Fertility

1. Gather Everything in One Place
   Keep all your lab reports together instead of reviewing them one by one. Looking at the bigger picture over time helps you notice patterns that a single set of results might hide.
   
   
2. Check the Date of Your Cycle
   Hormone labs only make sense if you know when they were drawn in relation to your menstrual cycle. Day 3, mid-cycle, and luteal phase results each tell a different part of the story.
   
   
3. Look Beyond “Normal” Ranges
   Just because your doctor says your numbers are “normal” doesn’t mean they’re optimal for conception. Functional medicine looks for the sweet spot where fertility thrives, not just what falls on the lab’s reference sheet.
   
   
4. Pay Attention to Trends
   One high or low result isn’t always concerning, but repeated shifts in the same direction can reveal underlying issues. That’s why tracking labs across time is more valuable than a single snapshot.
   
   
5. Review Thyroid Health First
   Your thyroid hormones (TSH, Free T3, Free T4, antibodies) are often the first place to look. Even small imbalances can interfere with ovulation, implantation, and early pregnancy.
   
   
6. Evaluate Progesterone in the Luteal Phase
   Progesterone rises after ovulation and is essential for supporting implantation. If levels are low, it can explain short cycles, spotting, or difficulty maintaining a pregnancy.
   
   
7. Consider Blood Sugar & Insulin
   Fasting glucose and insulin reveal how well your body manages energy, which directly affects hormone balance. Elevated levels may point to insulin resistance—a common but often overlooked fertility barrier.
   
   
8. Check Vitamin & Mineral Status
   Nutrients like Vitamin D, B12, iron, and folate play a critical role in egg quality, hormone balance, and energy. Deficiencies can quietly block progress, even if everything else looks “fine.”
   
   
9. Scan for Signs of Inflammation
   Markers like hs-CRP or homocysteine can reveal inflammation or autoimmune activity. Reducing hidden inflammation is often a key step toward restoring fertility and protecting early pregnancy.
   
   
10. Bring It All Together
    Numbers don’t tell the full story without context. Pair your lab results with symptoms, lifestyle, and a root-cause perspective—and remember, God’s design for your body is bigger than a single number on a page.
    
    

FAQs

What labs should I ask for when trying to conceive?
A full thyroid panel, day 3 hormones, blood sugar and insulin, vitamin D and nutrients, and inflammatory markers. Both partners should test.

Why do doctors say my labs are normal when I still can’t get pregnant?
Conventional ranges show what’s “average,” not always what’s optimal for fertility. Functional medicine looks for patterns and subtle shifts that may matter. Additional functional testing like the GI-Map may be very beneficial to discovering what could be impeding pregnancy.

Do men really need fertility labs too?
Yes! Male factors play a role in nearly half of infertility cases, and testing hormones and semen quality can give vital insight.

Can low vitamin D really affect fertility?
Absolutely. Low vitamin D is linked to poor egg quality, irregular cycles, and higher miscarriage risk. Restoring it can be a game-changer.

How can faith help me through confusing lab results?
Faith reminds us that while labs provide information, God provides hope. Numbers may guide our steps, but they don’t determine the outcome of your story.

A Gentle Next Step

If you’re tired of hearing “everything looks normal” while living a story that feels anything but, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Understanding your labs is the first step toward clarity and hope.

Take our Root Cause Quiz today to begin uncovering what’s really going on—and what your next step could be.