INFERTILITY INVESTIGATION

INFERTILITY INVESTIGATION

There are 4 main questions that will be evaluated by your doctor/nurse practitioner. These include:

Are there enough moving, normally shaped sperm?
Is ovulation occurring? If so, when and how often?
Is anatomy normal? Can the egg and sperm meet?
What are the quality of the eggs? What is the role of age?

Here are several tests that we will use to investigate why you are not becoming pregnant.

Blood Tests

Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH): FSH is a brain hormone that stimulates the development of the follicle (egg) in the ovary.

Estradiol: Estradiol is made by the egg follicles as they grow in the ovary. Estradiol, in addition to progesterone, prepares the uterine lining to receive the fertilized egg.

Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH):Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) is a hormone produced in the brain that stimulates the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located in the front of the neck and is involved in metabolism.

Prolactin: Hyperprolactinemia is a disorder in which the pituitary gland in the brain produces too much of the hormone prolactin.

Progesterone: Progesterone is the hormone made by the ovary after ovulation and is responsible for maintaining the lining of the uterus. This is important because the fertilized egg must attach to the lining in order to grow. Progesterone also causes the small rise in body temperature that happens after ovulation. This is the rise in temperature that you measure if you are checking your basal body temperature.

Clomid Challenge Test: The CCCT is a commonly used test that is over 95% accurate in predicting failure to have a successful pregnancy.

Basal Body Temperature: Basal Body Temperature (BBT) is a measurement of your resting body temperature taken every morning to detect hormone changes that occur during your menstrual cycle. These changes are recorded and graphed to obtain information about your menstrual cycle for you and your provider.

Semen Analysis: The semen analysis is one of the most basic laboratory tests of a couple undergoing an infertility work-up. The male partner is asked to produce a semen specimen to determine if the quality or quantity of the sperm is a contributing factor to their infertility.

Hysterosalpingogram (HSG): HSG is an x-ray procedure to view the inside shape of the uterus and fallopian tubes. This shows whether the tubes are open or damaged, and whether the uterine cavity is normal. Problems in these areas may make it difficult to become pregnant.

Ovulation Prediction Kit (urine test): Ovulation prediction kits are easy-to-use urine test kits that you can buy without a prescription to help determine when a woman is about to ovulate.

Vaginal Ultrasound: A small wand in inserted in to the vagina to scan your uterus and ovaries. An ultrasound is an instrument that uses high frequency sound waves. The sound waves reflect off your internal organs and are "read" by scanners that create pictures of your internal organs.