Preparing for Your First Visit to an Infertility Clinic

What should you expect from your first fertility clinic visit, and how do you interpret your test results? Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility & adoption education and support nonprofit, interviews Dr. Beth McAvey, a board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist with RMA of New York.

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Hit the Highlights
  • How long does an initial appointment at an infertility clinic usually last?
  • What should you bring with you to your first appointment at a fertility clinic?
  • Is a physical exam usually part of the first visit?
  • What routine fertility tests are part of an initial workup?
  • What’s the difference between FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) tests? How are they tested? Which one is better? Which one predicts successful pregnancy best?
    • Routine tests to be performed at the first several visits to an infertility specialist? Which ones should be routine, which ones are outdated? Hysterosonogram, saline sonogram, Hysterosalpingogram (HSG), Clomid Challenge Test, Progesterone – Day 21, Semen Analysis.
  • How to diagnosis Endometriosis? How important is it to perform a laparoscopy to find and diagnose endometriosis?
  • Will you discuss cost of treatment and go over options for payment and insurance at the first appointment?
  • Should husbands or partners come to the first appointment?
  • Should a couple already have had a semen analysis before the first appointment with a fertility specialist?
  • How to prepare and/or what should you bring to your first appointment?
  • What questions should you ask at the beginning of fertility treatment?

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Image credit: mario
 
Show originally aired in 2015.