Step 1: The double decidual sign is a sonographic clue, first described by Nyberg, used to verify that a gestational sac sits inside the uterus very early in pregnancy.
Step 2: On the scan it shows two bright concentric rings hugging the dark gestational sac - the inner from chorion plus decidua capsularis and the outer from decidua parietalis.
Step 3: Its whole purpose is to confirm an intrauterine pregnancy when the yolk sac or embryo is not yet visible, which places it firmly in early gestation.
Step 4: That timing corresponds to the first trimester, so the answer is 1st trimester; later trimesters are well beyond this window.
\[\boxed{\text{1st trimester}}\]