I struggled with infertility for 16 months. Then I used my science background to invent a product for at-home insemination and got pregnant on the 2nd try.

• Jennifer Hintzsche invented an at-home intracervical-insemination kit.
• Twenty-eight babies have been conceived using the kit, she said, which is now patented.
• This is Hintzsche's story, as told to Kelly Burch.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennifer Hintzsche. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As someone with a doctorate in biology and computer science, I love data. So when my husband and I started trying to have a baby, I tracked everything.

After eight months of negative pregnancy tests, I made an appointment with my OB-GYN and brought in all the data I'd collected. I knew something wasn't right. But she told me that since I was under 35, I needed to wait a year before getting fertility help.