I have faithfully used the Conceivable a Modern Conception product line (conceivable.com) for 9 cycles now, and spent over $1700 for the herbs and extra supplements that were recommended by the founder Kirsten Karchmer. As such I feel an obligation to write a review and give future customers a complete account of my experiences.  

Conceivable touts itself as helping those with long, irregular, non-ovulatory cycles with severe PMS, cramping, and clotting improve their menstrual cycle in 3-6 months. They state that successful users normally achieve pregnancy in 3-6 months. To do this the Conceivable program aims to give you an ideal cycle: 

1) 28 days long

2) ovulation at CD14

5) no PMS

7) 14 day luteal phase

8) luteal temperatures 98.2+

10) soak a pad/tampon every 4 hours

11) no cramping or clotting 

12) follicular temps 97.2-97.4

I was the ideal candidate to make significant progress with Conceivable. I had #'s 1,2,5,7,8, and 11 going for me before I started the Conceivable program. I had the ideal 28 day ovulatory cycle many girls would kill for. But after 2 years TTC and never having seen a BFP (with open tubes and super sperm; I have never been on birth control) I thought Conceivable was the ideal solution to smooth out my fertility problem areas (#'s 3,4,6,9,10,12) and finally achieve that THB.  

I wasn't taking any prescriptions during my Conceivable cycles (no ovulation induction meds or hormone replacement). I was just taking prenatals, and the Conceivable herbal formulas and supplements recommended by the founder. I had also already implemented many of the lifestyle and diet changes recommended in the program-I swapped out my kitchen items for those made of cast iron, stainless steel, glass, wood, and ceramic, as well as my cleaning and personal beauty care items for those free of offending ingredients and fragrances. I eat a whole foods nutrient dense diet (organic when possible) with vegetables at every meal and rarely drink anything besides water. I work part time from home with little job stress, go to the gym for light exercise 3-5 days/week and get 5-10k steps per day. 

 

At the program start my fertility problem areas were: little to no fertile peak discharge at ovulation, pain at ovulation, and 1-3 days of pre-menstrual spotting. I also had 7-8 day periods which were very light (1 day of red flow changing a pad every 6-8 hours, 2 days of red flow changing a pad every 10-12 hours, 4-5 days of spotting, some of which was brown). My average follicular temp was also high at 97.73. After signing up for the program I had a personal phone consultation with the founder. She stated that my digestion was weak, and recommended that in addition to the Conceivable herbs I also take maca and spirulina to help with hormone balance and lower my high follicular temps, and floradix liquid iron supplement and bone broth to build blood and improve my light period flow.

I faithfully took the Conceivable herbs and additional recommended supplements. After 4 cycles I could see that my issues were unchanged. I contacted the founder with respect to my light periods, lack of mucus, high follicular temps, and my Conceivable cycle score not improving. She had little to suggest and her suggestions were very much a repeat of what I had already been doing-stay hydrated, take herbs, bone broth, maca, spirulina. She again reiterated that my digestion was bad and that I should take probiotics and eat fermented foods.

After countless of bottles of Floradix iron over this four-month span (each $44 bottle lasted 2-3 weeks) I had my ferritin tested around this time and it was only 29 (70-90 is optimal for conception). I have no idea what my ferritin was before Floradix supplementation but the expense and lack of results sent me hunting for another iron supplement. 

After another 3 months lapsed with the additional probiotics and fermented foods and still not seeing any results I again contacted Kirsten. Kirsten while available via email was again like a broken record: my digestion was broken/defective and needed to be fixed and that was why I was not seeing the desired results. She repeated the same old ideas to build blood-bone broth, eat meat (something I had been doing all along as I am no vegetarian), reduce exercise (when I was only getting the minimum recommended 5-10k steps per day?!), and eat green veggies (I eat a serving bowl sized salad of dark leafy green each weekday for lunch, in addition to 1/2 plate at dinner and almost always some at breakfast). She again harped on my 'digestive and nutrient absorption issues' as the reason I could not make blood and recommended a food sensitivity test. I thought this was unlikely as my hair and nails grow like weeds, but nevertheless I shelled out the $199 for a food sensitively test. It came back clean. No foods gave a high or moderate reaction. Most foods came back with a Class 0 or low reactivity. This was not a shock as I have no acne, eczema, itchy skin, psoriasis, bloating, fatigue, IBS, joint pain, migraines, constipation, diarrhea which would indicate food issues. A few foods which have been virtually eliminated from my diet and are only eaten occasionally and in limited amounts (dairy, wheat, gluten) came back with a mild (Class 1) reaction. I was also mildly sensitive to a few foods which I had recently increased in consumption as these were cooling or warming foods recommended by the Conceivable plan to address cycle issues. 

After 9 cycles of continued use I can confidently say this: 

I am Creghton charting in addition to sympto-thermal, and I have been on a mucus enhancer regime long before starting and while using Conceivable (evening primrose oil, FertileCM, B6, and guaifenesin) and I am definately not observing abundant stretchy clear cervical discharge at ovulation

I still have pain at ovulation

I still have 1-3 days of pre-menstrual spotting

I still have 7-8 days of menstrual bleeding, not 4 which the Conceivable program strives for 

I am still only soaking a pad every 8-12 hours, not every 4 which the Conceivable program strives for 

Conceivable has temporarily reduced my follicular temps by .2 degrees (from 97.7 to 97.5)...a far cry from the .2 degree change per cycle I was supposed to have seen, when I stopped the herbs these rose back up. 

 

With the exception of my 7-8 day periods I could check off all of the Conceivable idea cycle features in my 20's. With all of the press attention the line is getting and many positive reviews on their website I expected Conceivable to be better. I am now almost 37, and based on my limited results I have little faith that Conceivable could give an ideal cycle to someone who has never had these features before.

I now see that some of these cycle issues the Conceivable program and in particular the herbs are actually ill-equipped to handle, and this was mis-represented. For example in my case light periods are what Chinese medicine refers to as 'blood deficiency' and the solution for this is animal products. Hoeever, the Conceivable meal programs contain paltry amounts of protein, and it was only through my own research and contact with Kirsten that I got the info to take bone broth and get adequate protein in my diet. In truth I consumed approximately 55g+ of protein per day both before and during my Conceivable cycles, however no where in the app nor the meal plan did I get this advice.

One should also know that your costs while using the program will far exceed that stated on the website. As stated above I spent additional time, money, effort, energy into other supplements and still did not achieve the desired results. In this manner the program preys upon those suffering from Infertility and are desperate for anything that might help, and makes you feel like if you just shell out for one more month you might get the desired results. My Conceivable cycle score never improved because my cycle issues didn't improve. It seems as if the majority of the success stories touted on their website were from those undergoing ART (<a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">IUI</a>/IVF) procedures, and these are likely the reason for the success, not the Conceivable program.