Infertility

What happens when you see your doctor?

See your GP in the first instance, if you have any reason for concern.

Your doctor will want to know about your development as a teenager and your periods. You’ll be asked when they started, how regular they are, whether you've ever been pregnant before or whether you've ever had a pelvic infection or sexually transmitted infection.

It's also important to mention any other illnesses you've had and any medication you may be taking.

Your doctor will examine you, including an internal examination, and send you for blood tests to check your blood count and hormone levels.

Your doctor may ask your partner about his development too, check his medical history for problems such as mumps, examine him and give him instructions to collect a semen sample for testing.

You may then be referred to a specialist clinic for further tests and advice. This is usually done once you've been trying to get pregnant for at least 18 months, but may be sooner if you're in your mid-30s or older.

What can specialists do?

Once referred to a fertility specialist (a reproductive medicine specialist), the cause of your infertility will be investigated.

The treatment will depend on the cause. It can range from hormone treatments and the use of donor sperm, to assisted conception techniques such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

IVF and ICSI

IVF involves removing eggs from the woman's ovaries and mixing them with either her partner's or a donor's sperm in a laboratory. If the eggs are fertilised successfully, they may then be placed back in the womb.

This is a demanding treatment for the couple and only about one in three women will become pregnant after a single IVF/ICSI cycle. Some of these pregnancies will be lost in the early stages. Many cycles may be required before achieving successful pregnancy, and these treatments are not successful for everyone, no matter how many times they’re attempted.

ICSI is sometimes recommended to couples who've had no success with IVF. It involves injecting a single sperm into the egg. If a healthy embryo develops, it's then placed back in the womb as in IVF.

Access to IVF is limited on the NHS. Guidelines from the National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE) say women aged 23 to 39 who have an identified cause of infertility or have had unexplained infertility for at least three years should be entitled to three cycles of IVF.

The Government has suggested that each primary care trust starts by offering couples one cycle, working up to three when possible. Access to NHS treatment varies, however, and it can depend on where you live, and what other local conditions are placed on you, such as your age. A cycle of IVF at a private clinic costs around £3,000.

Further information on infertility

For more detailed information on fertility and other aspects of reproductive medicine, see ReproMED from the Centre for Reproductive Medicine