How Giulia Tracked Her Fertile Window to Conceive After 35

For over a decade, Giulia and her partner knew they wanted to have children one day. But life took over, and it got busy. Between international moves—from meeting in London to living in Brazil, and eventually settling in Berlin—and building their careers, starting a family was always something for the future.

By the time Giulia entered her mid-30s, she’d spent nearly 15 years taking the birth control pill. And the idea of coming off it and trying to conceive felt both exciting and overwhelming. 

She often heard the same message: fertility declines with age, and conceiving after 35 can take longer than expected. Her friends, family, and healthcare providers gently warned her not to assume it would happen quickly.

While fertility generally declines with age, experiences vary widely from person to person, and many factors can influence how long it takes to conceive.

So when she became pregnant after just a few months of trying, she was surprised.

Here's how tracking with Clue Conceive helped Giulia better understand her fertility, build confidence,  and navigate the journey to pregnancy.

Trying to conceive after 35

Giulia first started tracking with Clue in 2014. Over the years, the app helped her build a deeper understanding of her cycle and her body.

As she entered her 30s, life became increasingly demanding. After experiencing burnout at work, she found herself revisiting a question she’d pushed aside for years: Was there ever going to be a perfect time to have children?

Everything shifted when Giulia took a sabbatical. With more time and space to reflect, she and her partner decided they were ready to start trying to conceive. Around the same time, she switched to Clue's Conceive mode.

“The app helped me understand much more about my fertility and when I was likely to ovulate,” she recalls. 

While she had previously used Clue primarily to track her periods, she now began paying closer attention to other cycle patterns and fertility-related signs.

Understanding the fertile window helped her feel more informed about when pregnancy was most likely to occur and made the process feel more manageable.

Learning about ovulation and fertility

Giulia used Clue Conceive for around four months while trying to become pregnant. During that time, she not only tracked her cycle but also spent time learning more about fertility and reproductive health through resources both inside and outside the app.

“I don't think I would have conceived so early without Clue Conceive, simply because I wouldn't have had the knowledge about my body.”

For Giulia, the biggest benefit wasn't just understanding when she might be ovulating—it was developing a deeper connection to her body throughout the process.

“Tracking my period and then getting pregnant and feeling my body change has made me think much more highly of my body,” she says. “It's been a very empowering journey.”

A few months after they started trying, she found out she was pregnant. 

"Two days before finding out, we had just booked tickets to Brazil," she says. "And now the trip isn’t happening. Something else amazing is happening instead."

Finding trusted health information 

As she transitioned from trying to conceive to pregnancy, finding reliable health information became more important than ever. Giulia quickly found that there was no shortage of pregnancy advice online, but trustworthy information was harder to find.

For her, having a single, trusted source helped cut through the noise.

“Clue became my safe space to gain new knowledge and not get overwhelmed,” she says. 

One of her favourite parts of the experience has been reading Clue's week-by-week pregnancy updates with her husband.

“Every week we have this kind of ritual. When I complete a new week, I know that there's a new update about the coming week in the Clue app. And every week we read together, or I get my husband to read it so he can feel more engaged.” 

Reading these weekly updates became a shared experience, helping both of them understand what to expect as the pregnancy progressed and creating a space to connect during a time of constant change.

Looking back, Giulia sees tracking as much more than a way to record her cycle. It helped her better understand her fertility, feel informed as she navigated pregnancy, and develop a greater appreciation for her body.

“It's been a very empowering journey,” she says.