Do you think that it may be time for you begin to look into having some Fertility Tests done? In order to answer this question you need to ask yourself some important questions.
- What are your age and your partner’s age?
- How long have you been trying to get pregnant?
Your age and your partner’s age are important factors to consider. As we get older it does become more difficult to conceive and have a baby. It is known that for a healthy couple in their 20′s that the chances of conceiving are between 25-30% each month. this drops down to only 10% per month once the woman is over 35 years old.
Secondly, the time that you have been attempting to conceive is an important factor. For couples, where the woman is in her 20′s to early 30′s, if you have tried to conceive for more than a year then it may be time to seek professional help to see if there are any problems stopping the conception from happening. For women over 35 who have been trying to conceive for at least six months, with no success, then it also may be time to seek medical answers.
Since it is more difficult to conceive once the woman is over the age of about 35, it is important to act and seek assistance from your doctor, after attempting to get pregnant for more than six months without success.
Infertility in a couple is defined as the inability of them being able to conceive after they have had regular intercourse without any contraceptives for at least one year. The causes of infertility are many and varied and can be related to the male or female partner individually or even a combination of the two. Research has shown that the causes can be broken up approximately as follows:
- Male Related – 35%
- Female Related – 35%
- Combination of both partners – 20%
- Unexplained reasons – 10%
So if after answering the above questions, it does seem that there may be a problem then the first step would be to consult your doctor or gynecologist. They would be able to offer the initial Fertility Tests to you and your partner. These tests may consist of physical examinations, blood tests and urine tests.
These initial Fertility Tests can be used to rule out any physical or health related problems. If these tests results come back as normal then younger couples are often encouraged to relax and to continue working on conceiving and getting pregnant on their own.
Your doctor may also advise you to purchase a Basal Body Thermometer and to continue to take your basal body temperature (BBT) each day. The best time to measure this temperature is first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. this gives an accurate indication of your basal body temperature.
This outlines the initial steps in finding out about your fertility. Additional Fertility Tests may be required after your doctor has all of the results from these preliminary tests.
