Infertility is a term that evokes a sense of helplessness, worry and anxiety in couples. A diagnosis of infertility can dramatically alter the landscape of future planning that the couple might have had. The dream of having a baby and starting the journey of parenthood beckons almost every couple. But the futility of sexual encounters comes to the fore once the woman is diagnosed to be infertile.

Dreams get shattered and life becomes morose for the couple. But you must know that a diagnosis of infertility is not the end of the road for you. There is still hope because there is advanced fertility treatment available. But before that it is better to get a second test. This is because the right outcome of a fertility test depends on different factors. If the test has not been conducted according to time-honoured practices then the outcome may be different.

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Fertility Test for Women

Before carrying out the test, the doctor will first ask you a set of questions related to your gynaecological history. You can go through some of these questions here and prepare yourself mentally.

• Whether you had ever been pregnant before. If yes, then what was the outcome.
• Frequency of your menstrual periods over the last year.
• Whether you have had any missed periods or spotting between periods.
• Whether you have noticed any large blood clot in the past year.
• And Whether you have ever adopt any birth control measure or not.
• Whether you have visited a doctor and tested for fertility before.

After the interview is over, the doctor will proceed for a blood test for fertility test for women. The blood test determines the levels of female hormones like thyroid hormones, prolactin etc. You may also be evaluated for sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhoea or genital infections that may contribute to your problem with fertility. But these are just preliminary tests. The real tests are conducted around the woman’s menstrual cycle. An array of tests such as test for follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, prorgesterone, estradiol etc needs to be done just after starting your cycle. These tests need to be repeated after a gap of 7 days from the date you start ovulating.

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Fertility treatment

If you are lucky enough your doctor may advise a set of medicines and lay down a set of instructions so as to create ideal conditions inside your reproduction system for conceiving a child. But this is just the tip of fertility treatment. If the doctor is not able to come to a conclusion he or she may order a set of different tests.

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Fertility Tests and Fertility Treatment

The doctor may feel the need for checking the condition of your uterus and ovaries with the help of a transvaginal ultrasound. This is done to see whether ovulation is at all taking place or not. This is why the doctor will insist on performing the test 15 days before your expected menstrual period. If he finds that there is problem with ovulation then he may decide to prescribe fertility drugs for stimulating ovulation. However, there is no guarantee that this is going to work.

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If no problem is found with ovulation then the doctor might go for an Hysterosalpingogram or HSG to see whether there is any blockage in your fallopian tubes which is blocking the movement of follicles. For this a dye would be injected into your uterus and x-rays would be taken. If any blockage is found it can be rectified with surgery and infertility can be cured.

However, the doctor may also want to proceed with a hysteroscopy to locate the area of obstruction and to get an idea about the kind of obstruction or to find out if there is any adhesion or scarring in the uterus. If the doctor detects any abnormality in the uterus he may go for a laparoscopy. Using a laparoscope he may be able to determine whether the uterus is afflicted with endometriosis, scarring or any other condition.

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Conclusion

There is nothing to be afraid of in fertility treatment. Even if all the tests turn out to be positive for infertility and surgery or medication is not able to cure infertility, there is still hope for you to be a mother. You may undergo In Vitro Fertilisation to bear a child. If you are ovulating, but not able to hold the fetus in your womb then you may also go for a surrogate mother. However, in some extreme cases both in vitro fertilisation and stimulation of ovaries may turn out to be non-productive.

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References

https://www.webmd.com/baby/features/fertility-tests-women

http://www.myfertilitycenter.com/blog/entry/all-about-the-hsg