Bringing new meaning to the words 'honey I'm ready', or rather how they are said, a recent study shows that when women are ovulating their voice has a higher fundamental frequency than normal, and apparently men are listening. But how accurate is this subtle broadcast as in indicator that you are ovulating?

The international collaborative study led by Prof Julia Fischer (German Primate Centre), Dr Stuart Semple (Roehampton University, London) and Dr Ofer Amir (Tel-Aviv University), was undertaken after previous research found that there was a variation a woman's voice during their pre-ovulation period.

The study had measured voice samples in just two phases of their cycle, (high-risk and low-risk ovulation period) whereas the new study published in the journal PLosONE measured free speech and vowel samples throughout the entire menstrual cycle.

Combining hormone measurements and acoustic analysis, earlier findings were confirmed that women have a higher more variable frequency to their voice pre-ovulation.

It was also shown that the female voice becomes more attractive to men when it is higher, although these levels were indistinguishable from pre-ovulation to shortly after, which makes the findings an unreliable way to tell when a woman is ovulating.

So if you are ready for baby-making sex and don't want to rely on your partner to pick up your voice signals, you may have to stick to tracking your temperature, or using Luteinizing hormone sticks to know when you are ovulating.

For more tips on knowing when you're ready, take a look at our gallery How to tell when you're ovulating and the simple to use ovulation calendar, here

Related gallery: 10 popular places to conceive

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