Feeling overwhelmed by fertility acronyms? TFC is here to help
Starting infertility treatment can feel like you’re swimming through an alphabet soup of fertility acronyms. However, you aren’t alone as you navigate this vast world of fertility terms. The team at our San Antonio fertility center wants you to feel empowered. As a result, we’re going to explain some of the most common terms you’ll see during fertility treatment.
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Wondering when to see a fertility specialist?
When faced with month after month of negative pregnancy tests, many couples think that they should just keep trying on their own. Others can hear their biological clocks ticking as they keep trying to have a baby without success – and they wonder when to see a fertility specialist.
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Don’t forget about the guys – Evaluating male infertility
Many people think that infertility is only a female issue, but our San Antonio fertility doctors know that male infertility is responsible for 40-50% of infertility cases. Although male infertility is common, it is also treatable. This is why our fertility specialists stress the importance of thoroughly evaluating male infertility to develop an effective treatment plan.
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Ovarian Reserve testing can help you take control of your reproductive future
Most women don’t think about their fertility until they want to start trying for a baby. However, the physicians at TFC San Antonio believe that women should start thinking about their reproductive potential much sooner than that. Our San Antonio fertility center supports a proactive approach to fertility,
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If you’ve checked the box “bleeding between periods” or “irregular menstrual periods” on your health history form, your obgyn or fertility doctor may suspect a number of causes, including endometrial polyps. These overgrowths on the inside lining (endometrium) of the uterine wall are common and usually benign, but can interfere with your goal of getting pregnant.
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Female infertility can be caused by multiple factors. Among the most common are ovulation disorders, fallopian tube disease, endometriosis, and uterine defects. While problems with ovulation are managed primarily with medications, the remaining conditions are most commonly diagnosed and treated with surgical intervention. Sonogram imaging of the uterus and ovaries may show conditions such as ovarian cysts or uterine fibroids (benign muscle tumors) that can compromise fertility.
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After completing your fertility evaluation, your physician may recommend surgery as a next step.
Surgery can be an excellent way to diagnose and treat many gynecological problems such as: endometriosis, ovarian cysts, pelvic and/or intrauterine adhesions, uterine fibroids, endometrial polyps, fallopian tube disease and obstruction, and congenital abnormalities of the pelvic organs such as a uterine or vaginal septum.
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What is a hydrosalpinx?
Though it sounds like an exotic Egyptian relic, a hydrosalpinx is a swollen and blocked fallopian tube. Because the end of the fallopian tube is closed off by scar tissue, fluid abnormally collects, causing further swelling and dilation of the fallopian tube.
Hydrosalpinges usually occur as a result of previous pelvic infection.
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In general, women with low ovarian reserve will have difficulty in achieving pregnancy. But what about in advanced reproductive technology (ART) such as IVF?
Ovarian Reserve
Let’s first discuss what the term ovarian reserve means. Ovarian reserve refers to quantity, or number, of eggs remaining that are available to achieve pregnancy. We are unable to measure this exactly,
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The basic evaluation for couples struggling to become pregnant includes a semen analysis, blood tests to evaluate ovarian function, a hysterosalpingogram and a pelvic sonogram to evaluate the uterus and fallopian tubes. It is not uncommon for couples to undergo this basic evaluation for infertility and find that all of their tests are normal. At that point,
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