The Right Time For Fertility Tests

The definition of infertility is the inability of a couple of conceiving a child within one year of attempts without using birth control methods. Yet, before you start thinking about a possible infertility or a treatment, think about what normal fertility means; the ability to conceive through sexual intercourse within 2 years' time. In some cases it may be a little more difficult to determine the time when the woman is ovulating so all you need to do is search for the peak fertility.

Of all the couples who fail to conceive, after one year, only half of them quit and turn to alternatives or request help. This is a good news for younger couples. For older couples though, waiting and continuing attempts may cause even more delay.

With age, a woman's fertility decreases and the possibility for miscarriage increases. In men, though the sperm count decrease also with age, the fertility is not greatly challenged by age.

Causes of infertility

Causes of the infertility may come from either one of the partners or from both of them. Some of the problems encountered are hormonal and can be fixed with medication and others may be structural problems that require surgical intervention.

In the couples affected by infertility half the cases are caused by woman's dysfunctions of the fallopian tubes, uterus or ovaries and one third of the cases are caused by the man's reproductive tract dysfunctions. In the rest of the cases, both partners contribute to infertility or no cause is found.

Testing infertility

The specialists' recommendation is to start assessing your fertility at home, by trying to identify the peak fertility of the woman.

You can consider tests necessary when:

First tests required are on sperm count and ability to ovulate. Prior to that, an evaluation of both partners and their lifestyle and health will be done.