When to start fertility investigations?

[Boco2]

Hi ladies, I'm 37, we've been trying for over a year, have had a miscarriage (Aug just over 8 weeks - found out at the 12 week scan). My period was a week late this time, I'd had some pale 'pregnant' lines on the PG tests I'd done but then my period turned up a week late having got my hopes up so I'm now not sure whether I was or it was all wishful thinking. I know the fact we've managed to get pregnant is a good sign but am just wondering at what point to start further investigations or to help nature along? I've had the basic hormone tests done on the NHS which came back normal. It is worth my partner having a sperm test done? This whole process is so gruelling and I'd hate to discover in 6/9 months there is something wrong. Do you have any advice/perspectives?

Thanks for your help : )

NHS guidelines for fertility testing is trying for a year without conceiving, or for 6 months if you are >35. As far as miscarriages go they don't test unless you have 3 consecutive miscarriages in first trimester (or one late loss) and even for that 1% of women the NHS tests only find a reason 50% of the time.

I would call what happened this cycle a chemical pregnancy/early miscarriage - it's very unusual to get false positives on a pregnancy test, but sadly very common for things to go wrong at an early stage. A CP would 'count' from the 3 miscarriages perspective, so in your shoes I would go to GP now to get that entered onto your medical record and to ask for advice re possible fertility issues.

You can pay for private testing at any time, but your odds of finding an answer wrt MC will be somewhere lower than the 50% at the moment (because in many cases sufferers of 1 or 2 miscarriages will be due to chromosome problems in the embryo, not any issues with you) I paid for private testing after 3 (but not 3 in a row) MC and it cost in the region of £800, and that was with most of the blood tests being done by my GP. I didn't get the answer I was looking for, but after a 4th failed pregnancy I had further private tests (another £350, not covered by NHS) and discovered my problem.

One thing you might find useful at this stage is to get your ovarian reserve checked - I had a test called AMH which is used to assess this, as it gives you some idea how loudly the clock is ticking.

Sorry for your losses, I hope that gives you food for thought in deciding your next move. If you have questions about the miscarriage testing you are welcome to join the recurrent miscarriage thread - we don't apply the criteria as strictly as the NHS.

Hi BakingTins, thanks for your post that's really helpful. I'll look into the AMH test and what's involved in the wider testing process. I had made an appt to see my GP (I had planned to tell her I thought I was pregnant) and was able to tell her instead that I'd started bleeding a week late which does seem odd as I'm a pretty regular 26 day cycle. She didn't mention chemical pregnancy so I think it's prob gone down on my record as a late period. My periods seem heavier after my miscarriage - this one has def been heavier so not sure if that's another chem preg sign - who knows. This whole process is just such a mystery! We'll push on and I'll broach the conversation of tests with my partner - I was keen to avoid medicalising the whole process but maybe that's now a sensible move. Thanks again.