A former contestant on 'The Bachelor' is telling women to get checked for infertility after finding out she had diminished ovarian reserve at 29

• At 29 and with regular periods, Caroline Lunny found out she had diminished ovarian reserve.
• She's urging women of all ages to get their fertility checked.

Caroline Lunny, a former Miss Massachusetts who was a contestant on the 22nd season of "The Bachelor" and the fifth season of "Bachelor in Paradise," is urging women to get their fertility checked after struggling with her own.

"Please, please, please, if you do not know where your fertility health stands at this exact moment, you are not allowed to say 'I don't know' anymore," Lunny told Insider at a recent event in West Hollywood, California, hosted by the podcast "Pregnantish." The event kicked off its programming during National Infertility Awareness Week in April featuring celebrities who struggle with the condition.

Lunny said she was 29 with regular periods and no symptoms when she decided to take an at-home fertility test. Her results prompted a visit to the doctor. She said that while she was initially dismissed, she pushed for answers.

Lunny said she found out she had a condition called diminished ovarian reserve in which the ovaries start to lose their reproductive ability, making it harder to conceive.

She chose to freeze her eggs

"When I first found out that I had diminished ovarian reserve two years ago, it was incredibly isolating, because people aren't talking about this," Lunny said.

Lunny said that while she didn't have immediate plans to start a family, she began the process of freezing her eggs — something she said she wished she'd done sooner. "You don't have a minute to spare," Lunny said.

She said she found Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh, also known as the Egg Whisperer, who was also at the "Pregnantish" event. "I'm here because the Egg Whisperer is here, and I do whatever that woman tells me to do," Lunny said.

Lunny added that she saw five specialists but that Eyvazzadeh was the only one who gave her a glimpse of hope — Lunny said Eyvazzadeh was the only doctor who was able to retrieve eggs from Lunny's ovaries.

Lunny said on Instagram in March that Eyvazzadeh "got my 11th mature, beautiful egg" during an egg retrieval.

She said she'd also tried procedures such as platelet-rich plasma to increase her chance of producing high-quality eggs.

Opening up about her journey has helped

Lunny said she'd found a community by opening up about her fertility journey online.

"It's so amazing to connect with women," she said. "It was so exciting for me to open up on my Instagram, then Nia Sanchez slid in my DMs — she's like, 'Hey, me too!'

"I hate that we're in this club, but it was just so nice to have somebody that got it. And we talked about it. It's just been amazing to have a little group so you don't feel so alone.

"It helps a lot talking about it. It makes it easier. It gives your pain a purpose because you're helping other people figure out that they might have a problem or help them not feel so alone. I know it feels scary to talk about at first, but once you do it feels easier."

Lunny said that while she has no embryos, she has some eggs from her retrievals, which she said motivated her. In the meantime, she continues to document her journey on Instagram.