Infertility tests

[Groundhog86]

My partner and I have been ttc for over a year. I'm at the point were I'm so sick of it not happening especially when a takes others only a few months.
So I went to my docs to discuss and start fertility test but they refused to do anything until DP had a sperm check. This took another 6 weeks to arrange, which has now been done.
But it's been 2 weeks and still not got the results back... I'm gonna try and persuade DP to call hospital to try and chase.
Does anyone know how long they normally take?? And maybe it is a bad sign that it's taking so long.
Just totally fed up, sorry for the rant.

[isthismummy]

Get your dp to call the hospital. I wouldn't take it as a bad sign at all, but NHS can be sooooo slow. You could easily die of old age waiting for them to get back to you (that's a slight exaggeration, but not much)

You have to be proactive and chase, chase, chase.

I'm surprised your gp refused to do anything for you first though. That's really odd. You're entitled to investigations after a year and they really should have got the ball rolling for you. What reason did they give for doing it the way they have? Personally I would go back and tell them you want at least your basic bloods. That's important information you could already have if your gp wasn't faffing around!

[Groundhog86]

The gp was a bit useless.. all he asked was had I had any kids before?... no and had DP had any kids before?... yes. I even said I'd had issues with a borderline underactive thyroid about 5yrs ago but he just insisted DP had to be tested first.
Just feel like they don't care because I look young and healthy only early 30.
I innocently thought the hospital would analyse strait away then DP would get the results while he was still in building....
Yeah I was wrong a about that haha
Thanks for replying

[isthismummy]

Could you go back and see a different GP? Put your foot down and insist they start the ball rolling for your tests. Sadly it does sound like they are being dismissive as you're still only young.

The under active thyroid needs to be checked out for certain. It can cause issues with conceiving and really it's one of the first things they should have checked out.

Lol to thinking you'd get results same day The NHS are rubbish (voice of experience here) and you need to badger them to death.

Good luck with it all

[RubyBoots7]

The average time trying supposedly is a year so you guys are not especially unusual.
Normally at this stage both you and your partner would have some basic tests organised by the GP (sperm for him and bloods, or if necessary other stuff, for you). They want to know if you're ovulating and if he's got wonky sperm. If his sperm looks funky, they'll suggest a retest (it can be easily affected by being ill, stress, drinking etc and renews within a few weeks for a retest).

If everything looks pretty much okay so unexplained fertility issues OR there's an identified problem that isn't solvable by GP, they should refer you at that point to a gynaecologist. You may then have a bunch more tests and poss interventions such as clomid if you're not ovulating.
As mentioned before it's bloody slow doing anything on the NHS. I'd definitely chase stuff up but be prepared that sometimes there's nowt you can do to speed up the system.

If you do end up having (and being able) to go down the IVF route, this is good preparation. It takes aaaages. You'll need to tap in to all your inner reserves of patience! You will have a billion tests. And retests- even though you feel like you only just got tested a last month. You will be prodded, poked and examined by heaps of people. And over again. And most CCGs have a minimum wait of 2yrs TTC before they refer for IVF. Some places it's 3 years!!

I hope you have success without needing to go through all that but just wanted to flag it up so you can look after and prep yourselves mentally if you do end up going down that path. You just have to find a way to ride out the ups and downs and cope with the waiting and all the multiple hoops.

Good luck 😊

[JoJoSM2]

Semen needs to be analysed as soon as it's collected so the results must be somewhere. Your DP just needs to find out what they are.

Re GPs- mine repeatedly wouldn't refer me. Even after 2 years, even when I turned up with a diagnosis in the end. I then changed GPs and finally got the referral. Next, the consultant decided to repeat all the tests over a number of months (some booked over half a year ahead!) and she wouldn't go with all my private tests and results. Needless to say, we decided we couldn't be bothered with all this nonsense and did IVF privately.

If you've got the means, I'd just go privately and not bother with the NHS. Given your DP has a child already, you wouldn't be eligible for IVF on the NHS anyway.

[RubyBoots7]

Sorry I totally missed that you said your partner had a kid already. You won't be able to access NHS-funded IVF.
I second what the above poster said then...if you can afford it, I'd pay for a private gynaecologist consultation.

[catlover1987]

We had our semen results back after 2 days. Have you called to ask? Suspect there is a breakdown in communication somewhere. Ask your doc for 21 day bloods. These were the first 2 things our GP asked for prior to referring us to the fertility hospital (still waiting.)

[Groundhog86]

Well he rang hospital today and they said the gp needed to chase the results... but when he spoke to the gp receptionist on Friday she told him to call hospital it's a bit of a joke this system.
Can't believe we would not be able to have ivf could understand if I'd had a kid before with someone else but that's just totally unfair on the women.
I'm just going to see what his results are first, I do think I'm ovulating every month as when I've done ovulation tests in previous months they are always positive at the right time.
Wish it was just easy instead of all this stress.

[florafoxtrot]

We waited 3 weeks for SA results and then another few days to get a GP appointment so its not unusual to have to wait - funnily enough now we are under the care of the FC, we get results much quicker so it is the interface between the urology clinic and the GP that takes ages!
Would agree that you should be having basic bloods done, 21 day bloods and a thyroid test. I'd go back once you have his results and request that those tests are performed.

[JoJoSM2]

I can see where the GP is coming from, though. Time-to-pregnancy is most correlated with sperm quality. If that turns out ok, then they can start a battery of female tests.

OP, with regards to fairness in access to IVF on the NHS- there is none. In some areas IVF is not funded at all whilst in others you get up to 3 goes. Not to mention a long list of other criteria.

[EarlGreyT]

jojo is right, there is no fairness to access to NHS ivf.

But Can't believe we would not be able to have ivf could understand if I'd had a kid before with someone else but that's just totally unfair on the women. it would be sex discrimination to say ivf was allowed on NHS if male partner had had a child previously, but not if the woman had. It works both ways and if either of you have a child already you're not entitled to it on the NHS.

[DrizzleHair]

Just wanted to add re Thyroid... GP may only care about your result indicating health for you. Fertility is a different thing.

By which I mean for you to be healthy your TSH needs to be somewhere between 0.1 and 5. However to conceive it should be between 0.1 and 2.5ish. So if it comes in at eg 4.5, GP might say that's fine and ignore it, whereas a fertility consultant is lovely to get you on a low dose of levothyroxine to get it down.

I read somewhere (probably mumsnet) that 75% of early pregnancies with a TSH of over 2.5 end in miscarriage. This might be wrong as I have no reference!

Anecdotally I was TTC for over a year with no luck, the month my TSH got to 1.8 (pretty optimal) I conceived. No idea if that was the reason but I always advise friends experiencing problems TTC to check the Thyroid but be aware what numbers to look for, not take the GPs word for it. And if you do get pregnant while on Thyroid tablets, hound your GP to test your blood every 6 weeks and adjust your dose throughout pregnancy if necessary.

Caveat - I think I mean TSH, I might be talking about one if the other thyroid numbers...