TTC - What to expect at appointment with GP?

[Ginge248]

My fiancé and I have been TTC for a year now and have an appointment with our GP this week. Just wondered if anyone could advise what to expect?
TIA :)

You’ll have some questions - how long you’ve been trying, how often you have sex, your periods, whether either of you have other children. The basics.

Then it’s likely you’ll be referred for tests. Take a notepad and pen as there could be things to write down and you want to get them all right (eg days into the cycle, etc). If you’re not sure how you book them or what to do, ask.

The tests can take a while. In the mean time they’ll tell you to go away and keep snagging and try not to stress too much.

Unless a cause is found (eg sperm count) you’re a long way off IVF but still it’s worth looking at what your area fund (if anything) so that if you’re near the age cut off you can start trying to move things forward.

Good luck with the appointment and TTC.

Lots of questions! About health, sex life, cycle length etc. I would read the NICE guidelines about fertility as often GP’s aren’t very clear. Be mindful they might not really know what they are doing and you might have to “remind” them but maybe that was just my experience. Good luck with it all.

@BlueLadybird thank you, never thought about taking notes. Just trying to be as prepared as possible! I'm 24 so hoping that it's just taking a little longer rather than there being anything wrong but I think it's definitely time we get looked at, just in case. Haven't really thought as far as IVF yet as I'm hoping it's not a route we need to take!

@EL8888 I'll definitely have a look at those guidelines our doctors aren't always the best! Fingers crossed they know what they're doing as I always forget things when I'm on the spot. Need to make a list!!

At a year TTC, I was told to 'relax' more and that they wouldn't do anything until two years TTC. Hope yours is more helpful, but be prepared that they may not be concerned at this point.

(I did get pg in the end, but walked away from more than one GP appt in tears before I got to that)

@WonkyDonk87 what a horrible experience for you! That's one thing I'm slightly concerned about, being told to relax and wait longer. If something is wrong, I'd like to find out as soon as possible ideally

A list is a great idea. I would also be prepared to be pushy if necessary e.g. my GP thought l should try for longer. We had for 7 months and NICE guidelines say when you are over 35, you should start investigating after 6 months

It might be worth checking your local CCG guidelines. In my area it's two years TTC before referral to secondary services (unless you have known conditions or cancer). I did eventually have a pelvic ultrasound, bloods etc (all normal and nothing more offered by GP services) and had a successful pregnancy just before the two years so didn't need it in the end.

Good luck OP

Silly question, but does being over 35 apply to both man & woman? My partner is 35 so if we needed to could we be pushy?

@WonkyDonk87 So many different guidelines, I'm glad I asked now. Feel so out of my depth!
Thank you and congrats on finally getting there in the end

NICE - what's best practice/what should health services aim to do
Local CCG - decide what local services can afford to do within their budget to suit the local demographics.

So even if NICE recommend something... it may not be possible if your local health service isn't funded to do it.

^ very good points l should have mentioned. My CCG for example will only do 1 cycle of IVF, after a long list of prerequisites are met

@WonkyDonk87 @EL8888 thankyou for your advice, feel like I can do some proper research now. I've been finding it so hard to get anything concrete from the Web! I'm hoping with my partner being 35 that we won't just get turned away

The age 35 or older applies to the woman not the man as men don’t have the same issues with declining fertility.

As @WonkyDonk87 says, you need to look at your local CCG guidelines which reflect what will happen in the real world rather than the NICE guidelines which reflect what should happen in the ideal world. For most CCGs, their guidelines are significantly different from the NICE guidelines.

I was also told nothing would be done until TTC for 2 years by my GP. I was gutted as everyone had told me it was 12 months before I could go to the GP. I did fall pregnant the following cycle though!

Good luck with it all. I’m not going to lie, it’s a minefield!

Morning all. When you say "nothing" can be done. No tests at all? I'm not asking for immediate action if there is something wrong, but would just like to know so we can process it and start looking at other options. None of the women in my family have struggled with getting pregnant, just seems to be me!

If your GP won’t do anything at this stage then you could try a different one at your practice. Or you could pay privately for some, that’s what we ended up doing. Some fairly comprehensive tests were done on us, some of which the NHS don’t even do e.g. AMH