Are you having trouble conceiving? Fertility Screening may be the next step.
Depending on your age and other risk factors, it is advisable to seek medical advice if you have been actively trying to conceive for more than 6 months to 1 year without any success.
We can still perform fertility testing for women who want to exercise caution and look for any potential problems early so that they can be dealt with. It is quite common for some women to screen their fertility just before or just after they get married.
How do you get started? Firstly, visit your doctor who will take a thorough medical history including your sexual and gynaecological history. This will then be followed by a physical examination to pick up other secondary causes of infertility such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), thyroid disorders, anaemia, or excessively low or high body weight.
After a general assessment, your doctor will then move on to carry out more specific tests to assess your fertility status.
Tests This would generally include a blood tests which would tests for specific hormones such as FSH and oestrogen which are important to assess how many healthy eggs you have left in your ovaries. Other additional blood tests would include blood tests to check for anaemia, diabetes and for other hormonal imbalances such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) or thyroid disorders depending on what is needed after the initial assessment.
Imaging/Scanning Your doctor may also order an ultrasound scan of your pelvis to assess your ovaries and uterus. This is usually a simple and painless procedure.
Sexually Transmitted Disease Screening Other optional tests would include a chlamydia swab test. Chlamydia is the commonest STD in the world and usually has no symptoms. Hence it is often picked up late. One complication of untreated Chlamydia is pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) where there could be irreversible damage to the uterus, fallopian tubes or ovaries causing infertility. Thus, it is recommended that at risk women should get a chlamydia test done to get the necessary treatment early to prevent later complications such as PID and infertility.
If you are interested to find out more about fertility screening tests or if you have any issues or questions regarding fertility, please feel free to visit us or call up to make an appointment.
