A thorough infertility evaluation is the first step in creating your treatment plan
If you’ve been struggling to conceive for more than a year (or six months if you’re older than 35), it’s time for an infertility evaluation. By ordering comprehensive testing, our fertility doctors can determine the cause of your fertility issues. In order to conceive, a couple needs a healthy uterus, open fallopian tubes and normally functioning eggs and sperm. As a result, diagnostic testing with our San Antonio infertility doctors will focus on evaluating these factors.
Taking a medical history is the first step on your infertility evaluation journey
When you visit Texas Fertility Center, our San Antonio fertility doctors will sit down with you to have a detailed conversation about your health history, including information about your menstrual cycle, past pregnancies, prior fertility treatments, medical conditions and lifestyle factors influencing pregnancy chances.
After gathering this history, our doctors will commonly recommend a physical examination and pelvic ultrasound to look at your anatomy. The information we gather from your history and physical exam will help us determine what other evaluation you will need.
The fertility evaluation is a deep dive into fertility struggles
Many diagnostic tests are available to help us learn more about your fertility. Although you may not need all these tests as part of your infertility evaluation, it is helpful to understand what they are and why they are important.
- A pelvic ultrasound exam typically occurs at your first visit. Our San Antonio infertility doctors use a vaginal ultrasound wand to view your uterus and ovaries during this simple and painless imaging test. We will look for a variety of issues, including uterine fibroids, endometrial polyps, endometriosis and ovarian cysts. The ultrasound examination can occur any time during your menstrual cycle.
- Ovarian reserve testing can provide valuable information about the number of eggs remaining in your ovaries, and how the brain and ovary are communicating with each other to coordinate ovulation. The two tests most commonly used for determining ovarian reserve are follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH). This testing is commonly performed at the beginning of the menstrual cycle.
- Other types of bloodwork may be necessary as part of the infertility evaluation to evaluate other medical conditions that can influence reproduction, including thyroid disease and glucose intolerance. If you do not ovulate regularly and we suspect you have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), other testing can help our fertility doctors determine the best medication strategies for predictable ovulation.
- A hysterosalpingogram (HSG) can determine whether your uterine cavity is normal and your fallopian tubes are open. This radiology exam involves inserting a small catheter through the cervix into the uterus. X-ray dye is placed into the uterus, so that we can make sure that the uterine cavity has a normal shape and size, and also to make sure that the fallopian tubes are both open.
- A semen analysis is a comprehensive test to look at abnormalities in sperm production or function, which can be a contributing factor in up to 50% of cases of infertility. After a sperm specimen is collected either at home or at the Ovation® Fertility San Antonio laboratory, our andrologists evaluate it under a microscope for volume, sperm concentration (the number of sperm per milliliter of fluid), sperm motility (movement) and sperm morphology (shape).
Follow-up consultation
After the infertility evaluation is complete, our fertility specialists like to review test results with patients in a comprehensive follow-up visit. At that time, while reviewing the results from bloodwork, imaging tests and sperm counts, your fertility doctor will be able to explain your results and chances of pregnancy using different fertility treatments.
After this discussion, our San Antonio infertility doctors will help you develop a treatment plan to get you started on the path to pregnancy. Contact us to schedule an appointment and learn more.