Fertility Assessments

[Lebe14]

Hey. AF arrived today so I'm going to be starting cycle #10 in a few days! I'm 33 and the OH is 38, TTC #1 very unsuccessfully. We're nearing the 12 month mark so I'm trying to pluck up the courage to call my GP to see if they'll arrange any fertility assessments. If not, I might start to look privately.

However, can anyone give me insight of what assessments might be done and how long it took through NHS to get these arranged? I get really anxious talking to GPs and having any type of tests done, especially blood tests or anything invasive / internal. I know all tests will be worth having as we want a family so much, but my anxiety just completely takes over!

If anyone has been through this and happy to share their experience I'd be really grateful! X

I had blood tests on day 21 of my cycle,a vaginal swab and an abdominal scan. When those all came back clear DH has sperm analysis. Was all done quickly BUT that was pre - covid. Good luck

Hi @Lebe14 we were just about to begin our fertility investigations when I got pregnant (month 11 of trying). It took about 5 months for my referral to come through and to have the first appointment which was just to run through what will happen which I think is fairly common for most. My partner had to schedule for a semen analysis, I had to get lots of bloods done at the start of my cycle and day 21 or the equivalent of it. I was also going to get a HyCoSy and they needed to check my urine sample for chlamydia before that. Time wise I was told they give the couple about 3 months after the first appointment to get it all done but with covid she said it'd probably be another month, so 4 months after the first appointment to have the follow up appointment where they would probably suggest to do more tests.

If I was in your position I'd speak to your doctor now to get the ball rolling as who knows how long you'll have to wait for a referral. You may never have to use it if you become pregnant before. Good luck!

I can only go by what happened with us, I don’t know the actual guidelines, but having been trying for 8 months I believe, I decided to push for an actual diagnosis for my pre-existing cycle weirdness. So from there I was diagnosed with pcos via blood tests. That was done very quickly as can be done at the doctors.
As I had a ‘qualifying condition’, I was able to be referred for investigations, once my DH had done a semen analysis. I think we’d have had to have waited until the twelve month mark if I hadn’t had any health conditions already.
We were referred last September time, and got our first telephone call appointment at the end of February. Typically we’d just got to the point of going private and by then, had an internal scan, further blood tests, DH had another semen analysis and been told my hopeless ovaries were a bit of a mess and that was the issue! We were due to start letrozole at the start of March, so did a pg test just in case, and it was positive. Mad.
But hope that helps a bit in terms of timing etc 😊

I suggest speaking to your GP ASAP. Given current timelines, I'd be inclined to go now, and say you have already been TTC 12mths. Yes, I realise this is a lie, but by the time they might do anything, it will be 12mths anyways.

Have you spoken to your GP about CBT for your health anxiety too?

In my case, I had a day 21 blood test initially. This was normal, and showed I was ovulating, then my GP did absolutely nothing else!!! Since finding mumsnet and reading up more, I now wish I'd pushed earlier on for further tests and a referral. I ended up going private for testing, because I live part of each year abroad and found my UK GP useless.

Generally the following would be done:

• Asking about general health history. Any gynae issues you already know about? Any history of STI's? Regular meds? Cycle length etc
• BMI check
• Swabs and/or blood tests for STI's
• Blood test for thyroid, diabetes
• Blood test for AMA (to check your egg count)
• A scan to check the shape of your uterus to look for polyps, fibroids and if bicornate. Also to check tube patency. Usually a HSG or hycosy.
• Semen analysis and STI checks for partner

I recommend a book called 'It starts with an egg'. You can get a cheap copy from ebay. Check its the latest version. Any questions, I'm happy to answer.

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences - it's really useful as I'm finding this all quite daunting... part of me feels that if it's not meant to happen, then it won't. And whether I can actually mentally cope with all the tests, results, and then what happens next!

@Eleoura and @choccrumpet - you're right, I should build up the courage to call ASAP and just say we've been trying for 12 months already as it seems to take some months. I also appreciate that with covid, fertility isn't a priority. I actually stopped using any BC for 12 months before - we weren't actively TTC but nothing just 'happened'... so that's why I'm even more concerned. I just can't bring myself to call them as I feel like such a failure - I need to have a quiet word with myself over the next couple of days to sort myself out haha! Think I'm just over emotional today due to AF arriving.

I'll check out that book too, thanks so much for the recommendation. I've not heard of it but willing to give anything a go and learn more about it.

@Ughmaybenot and @choccrumpet - so glad to hear you both got pregnant naturally before you had your tests finalised. Bet that felt amazing!

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