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When To Seek Fertility Treatments

© Lori Ramsey

Wanting a baby and actually having a baby are often two very different things. There are a huge number of women who suffer from infertitliy for one reason or another. Many of these women can find treatments to correct their infertility problems and some may never overcome their problems. When to seek the help is the booming question.

A lot of times, when to seek the fertility treatments depends upon a woman's age and upon her doctor. But, if a woman will seriously take control of the situation - by first seeing a doctor, preferably an obstetrician (a doctor who specializes in the care of pregnant women), before she even starts trying to conceive, to make sure she is in optimum health - is an excellent starting point. This, of course, does not guarantee success right away. This simply acts as the springboard for the road to conception. Believe me, I know a lot of women, myself included, who became pregnant before ever seeing a doctor. But ideally, it's good practice to get a thorough exam before ever setting out on this road.

Once you begin the journey of hopeful conception, the best thing you can do is to start charting. Charting all your fertility signs can give clues into why you may not be conceiving right away. Chart your basal body temperature, cervical fluid and, if you are willing, the cervical position. This can indicate a number of potential problems such as low estrogen, low progesterone, anovulation and thyroid problems for starters.

Most of the time, if you are under the age of 35, a doctor will not even begin any type of fertility treatment until you have tried to conceive for 1 year. Of course, depending upon how determined you are, armed with your well filled out charts, you could potentially approach a doctor at 3 to 6 months, if you suspect a problem. If you are over the age of 35 and under 40 a doctor will usually want to see a good 6 months and if you are over 40 a doctor will probably start testing and treatments as early as 3 months if not right away.

There are many different fertility tests that can be run. Let's not forget the importance of the man's fertility workup either. About 50% of infertility are due to problems with the man. The obvious test for a man is a sperm count - it's a very simple procedure and it doesn't hurt! The woman is a different story. Usually when infertility is suspected, a man will have a fertility workup first, because it is least invasive. The testing and treatments for a woman vary from doctor to doctor.

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