A single miscarriage can be traumatic enough for an expectant couple. The fact of the matter is that somewhere between 15% and 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. In many cases, the cause of a miscarriage remains unknown, and research has yet to establish the cause for the majority of miscarriage. If you have experienced multiple miscarriages, it can be even more devastating. Many couples who have had multiple miscarriages undergo fertility testing to help determine why exactly it is that they have recurrent pregnancy loss. Typically, the threshold is considered to be three miscarriages in a row to fall into this category.

There are a variety of things that your health care provider and/or your fertility specialist may be able to do to help determine what is causing your recurrent pregnancy loss. In some cases, problems with the way that your blood clots is thought to be behind multiple miscarriages, as this will keep enough blood from flowing through the placenta to your fetus. In some cases, genetic abnormalities with the embryo are responsible for a miscarriage, although this is rarely the cause for multiple miscarriages. A structural problem with your uterus, such as scarring or abnormally small size, can create multiple miscarriges. Hormone imbalances, and disorders that cause them such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS for short) can also be responsible for multiple miscarriages.

If you have had multiple miscarriages, fertility testing can help to determine what the cause of your miscarriages may be. Depending on the cause, there may be options for treatment. If you are having trouble with hormone imbalances, for example, your health care provider may be able to help you with hormone therapy that can help increase your chances of successfully carrying your pregnancy to term. If there is a problem with a blood disorder, you may be able to take certain medications, such as heparin or low-dose aspirin, that will help the flow of blood in your system, and thus the flow of blood from you to your baby. If there is scarring or a problem with your uterus, surgery may be a treatment option.

To begin with, it is important to understand that fertility treatments very often are not successful. More than 40% of couples who undergo fertility treatments will not go on to have a baby. To understand why this is, it is important to know the specific reasons that some fertility treatments fail.

The biggest factors in whether or not a fertility treatment fails is the nature and severity of your condition. If you are having fertility problems because of an extremely small uterus, for example, most fertility treatments will not make much of a difference. Even surgical options don’t always produce success in this case. On the other hand, if you have a slight hormonal imbalance, hormone shots will often do the trick.

The next most important factor in whether or not some fertility treatments fail is your age. Statistically speaking, becoming pregnant becomes more and more difficult for each year beyond the age of 29 that you age. Around 10% of women in their twenties, for example, report difficulties with fertility. Women in their thirties, in contrast, have problems about 25% of the time. This number raises to 50% for women over 40. If you are over 40, even fertility treatments often will not succeed. This is not to say that it is impossible, only that you have a higher chance of failure.

Another reason that some fertility treatments fail is because of misdiagnosis. While this does not necessarily happen very often, it is possible that your health care provider has not correctly identified what it is that is causing your fertility problems. Or, it may be that you have more than one problem with fertility. If blood tests show that you have a hormone imbalance, for example, your health care provider may treat that hormone imbalance. However, you could still have a blocked fallopian tube, which would mean that even after your hormone imbalance is taken care of you would still have difficulty with conception. Identifying the cause (or multiple causes) of infertility is a key component of treating infertility problems successfully.

Couples can be reluctant to seek help when trying to conceive. There is always a fear that there is something permanently wrong, something that cannot be fixed, that is keeping them from having a child. There is often the fear of the unknown, as well. Knowing what to expect on your first fertility treatment appointment can, hopefully, reduce these anxieties at least a little bit.

Generally, one of the first things that will happen during your first fertility treatment appointment is that your health care provider will take your medical history, as well as your history of trying to conceive. Knowing what sorts of medical problems you may have had in the past can help your health care provider to know where to start looking when it comes to trying to identify fertility problems. If you have been trying to conceive using an Ovulation Prediction Kit (OPK) or by tracking cervical mucus, you will want to discuss these measures with the health care provider, as well.

You should also expect to give a blood sample for all sorts of testing. The blood work will actually be taken several times over the next couple of months, as your health care provider will want to test your blood at various stages during your monthly cycle. Your partner will likely have to give a semen sample, as well, whether it is at this appointment or at a later date coming up soon.

You should expect to have a pelvic exam during your first fertility treatment appointment. This exam might also include a pelvic ultrasound to look for any visible abnormalities.

You should not expect to get any specific answers, or to formulate a treatment plan at your first fertility treatment appointment. This appointment will be a lot of gathering of data. You will have a follow-up appointment with the health care provider at some point to discuss the findings of all of the tests, and then to decide on a treatment plan.

Going through fertility treatments can be a particularly trying time. In addition to the sheer financial expense involved, getting fertility treatments can create a roller coaster of emotions for both partners. The cycle of hope, expectancy, disappointment, and depression can be very difficult. Because of these things, it is important that you optimize your chances of success by avoiding certain things while going through fertility treatments.

When trying to conceive through fertility treatments, it is important to keep with a balanced diet. Being overweight or underweight can severely affect your chances of conceiving. In addition, maintaining good health habits now will help you to have a healthier pregnancy once you do conceive.

You should definitely avoid alcohol when going through fertility treatments. Alcohol negatively affects sperm in a man, both in terms of sperm count and in terms of sperm motility, and can also reduce a woman’s ability to conceive. If you do conceive while going through fertility treatments but are drinking alcohol, that alcohol consumption may affect your baby at a very critical stage of development.

Smoking also may negatively impact your ability to conceive while going through fertility treatments. Nicotine, one of the main ingredients in tobacco, will affect the way that your body produces the hormones that you need to become pregnant. In addition, smoking can interfere with the movement of the egg through the fallopian tubes and on to the womb. In addition, smoking during pregnancy if you do happen to become pregnant will affect your pregnancy negatively as well.

A variety of illicit drugs can also negatively impact your fertility, and these should be avoided while going through fertility treatments as well.

To optimize your chance for conception, you should also avoid having sexual intercourse during the time leading up to your ovulation. Having sex too often can reduce a man’s sperm count, and thereby making for less of a chance that you will be able to successfully conceive.

Depending on the type of fertility treatment you are undergoing, you should check with your health care provider to identify anything else that you should avoid during your treatments.

If you are seeing a fertility expert for trouble with conceiving, there are three main tests that are usually administered to a couple. The first test is a sperm test, which will test the amount and quality of sperm in a man’s semen. The next is a hysterosalpingogram, also known as an HSG, which will test the fallopian tubes to make sure they are not blocked. Finally, is the FSH test. This test will check your FSH levels.

It is important to understand what FSH levels mean. Follicle Stimulating Hormone, which is produced in the pituitary gland, helps to promote the growth of eggs, in the case of women, and sperm, in the case of men. When Follicle Stimulating Hormone levels are too high, it generally indicates a problem with the number of eggs that a woman has on reserve. It has been estimated that only about 1% of women with high Follicle Stimulating Hormone levels will not have problems conceiving. Follicle Stimulating Hormone levels can be checked with a simple blood test. A test of Follicle Stimulating Hormone levels will produce a number. If that number is 10 or below, it is considered average. If that number is between 10 and 25, the levels of Follicle Stimulating Hormone are borderline. If that number is over 25, Follicle Stimulating Hormone are elevated, and the woman may have a great deal of difficulty conceiving.

After having your FSH levels checked, the next step is to determine a treatment plan. If you have elevated levels of FSH, it can indicate a problem with your ovarian reserve. If you do not have enough or any viable eggs, it will not be possible for you to conceive a child with your own eggs. In this case, the next step is most often very aggressive fertility treatment, including the use of donated eggs for In Vitro Fertilization (IFV).

It is also likely that, after having your FSH levels checked, your health care provider might want to do some other tests to determine whether your FSH levels are being affected by another condition, such as PCOS.

Many couples who are considering having a baby worry about having trouble getting pregnant. Some couples, after having tried to become pregnant for a couple of months, are concerned that they may be infertile. Infertility is defined as the inability to become pregnant after one year of attempting to become pregnant. Infertility is a common problem. Roughly 10 percent of women who attempt to become pregnant encounter problems with infertility.

Infertility can be caused by many factors. In about 50% of the cases, infertility is caused by a problem with the woman. In around 40% of cases, it is due to male infertility. In the remaining 10% of cases, it is a problem with both the man and the woman.

For men, the most common cause of infertility is a low sperm count. In addition to a low sperm count, some men’s sperm have problems with motility, or the ability of the sperm to swim forward. For some men, their bodies may contain antibodies that counteract their own sperm. Sometimes, there is a problem with the vas deferens, the tube that carries the sperm from the testicles into the body.

For women, there can be many different problems that can cause infertility. PID or Pelvic Inflammatory disease can lead to infertility. Some women develop antibodies to a partner’s sperm. Some women have irregular ovulation cycles. A woman may have failure of the ovaries or of the pituitary gland. Endometriosis may head to infertility. Some studies suggest that long-term use of the birth control pill may also lead to infertility. A woman may have a blockage or damage to the fallopian tubes. Several conditions involving the reproductive organs, such as fibroids, an abnormal womb shape, or congenital abnormalities may also lead to infertility.

In both men and women, several things can lead to infertility, including nutritional problems, extreme stress, exposure to heavy metals, Chlamydia, the use of some prescription and illicit drugs, and smoking.

The good news for a couple experiencing infertility is that there are a variety of treatments available that may help a couple who are trying to conceive. If you believe you are experiencing infertility, contact your health care provider and she may be able to help identify the cause of infertility and correct it.

IVF, IUI and FET all refer to a variety of Assisted Reproductive Therapy treatments, or ART treatments for short. IVF and FET are similar and related procedures, while IUI is unique.

IUI stands for Intrauterine Insemination. In this procedure, the sperm are washed, concentrated, and directly injected into the uterus of the woman. This greatly increases the number of sperm that make it into the fallopian tubes, which is where sperm can fertilize an egg. IUI can use sperm from the male partner or from a donor. IUI is not effective if the male has problems with his sperm, such as a low sperm count or abnormal sperm. IUI is often coupled with medications to help a woman ovulate, such as Clomid.

IVF refers to In Vitro Fertilization. If a woman does not have any success with IUI, she will often be a candidate for IVF. In IVF, eggs are retrieved from the woman. Sperm are then used to fertilize the eggs outside of the womb in the lab. Once the eggs are fertilized, creating embryos, the embryos will then be transferred into the uterus around three to six days after the eggs were retrieved. IVF is one of the oldest ART treatments, and has been in use for over three decades.

FET, which stands for Frozen Embryo Transfers, is, procedurally, similar to IVF. When a woman has IVF, if there are extra embryos that are available, they can be frozen. If this is the case, they can be transferred into your uterus at a later time. FET is most useful for a woman who does not get pregnant with the first cycle of IVF treatments, or with a woman who has a successful IVF pregnancy and wants to become pregnant again in the future.

IVF and FET both carry a risk of having twins or multiples. The ovulation medications that often accompany IUI also create an increased risk for twins or multiples.

FSH levels are directly affect fertility in women. If FSH levels are higher than normal, conception may be difficult or even impossible. Because of this, it is important to understand what exactly can affect FSH levels in a woman who is trying to conceive.

First, it is important to really get a grasp on what FSH is and how it affects your ability to become pregnant. FSH stands for Follicle Stimulating Hormone. FSH is a hormone produced in the pituitary gland. FSH relates to several fertility issues. In particular, FSH levels can indicate how your ovarian reserve of eggs is doing. In addition, your FSH levels can affect how your body will respond to certain types of fertility treatments.

Several things can affect FSH levels in a negative way by causing them to be elevated. PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, is known to cause elevated FSH levels, as is failure of the ovaries prematurely. Menopause is the most common cause of elevated ovarian levels.

There are also things that might lower levels of FSH in a woman’s body. There are some medications, such as progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, digitalis, and clomiphene that can affect FSH levels in this manner. In addition, if you have a bone scan or a thyroid scan within seven days of having your FSH levels tested, the radioactive agents from those scans may affect your FSH levels. Stress is also known to affect FSH levels by lowering them. Finally, as it affects so many other areas of life, smoking cigarettes heavily may affect your FSH levels.

In addition, your FSH levels should change regularly throughout the month. During the luteal phase, for example, your FSH levels should be between 5 and 20 IU/L. During the middle of your monthly cycle, when FSH levels are at their peak, you may have between 30-50 IU/L of FSH. For this reason, when FSH is tested for fertility issues, the test is given on the third day of menstrual bleeding so that results can consistently be interpreted and compared.

Your health care provider or fertility specialist may be able to help you determine what your FSH levels mean in your particular situation, as well as the factors that might be affecting your FSH levels.

Ovulation refers to the release of a single, mature egg is released from the ovarian follicle. During the course of a monthly cycle, the largest of the of the eggs is released into the fallopian tube. Once released, the egg can then be fertilized over the next day or so before it begins to disintegrate. If the egg should be fertilized and successfully implants, a woman becomes pregnant. If the egg is not fertilized, it is passed from the woman’s body during menstrual bleeding. This occurs about two weeks after ovulation.

Sometimes, a woman may have a monthly cycle in which no egg is released at all. This is known as an anovulatory cycle. When a woman has an anovulatory cycle, this is known as anovulation. Anovulation can in general be avoided and can typically be corrected.

Any number of things can cause anovulation or an anovulatory cycle, including:
- Breastfeeding,
- Excessive or rapid weight gain,
- Excessive or rapid weight loss,
- illness or infection,
- cessation of birth control pills,
- stress,
- strenuous exercise,
- pituitary problems,
- thyroid problems,
- PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome),
- luteal phase defects,
- primary ovarian failure,
- resistant ovary syndrome, and
- the long-term use of certain medications, particularly contraceptives.

A single anovulatory cycle is not uncommon. Should you have several anovulatory cycles, there are things that your health care provider can do to help overcome anovulation. The most important thing to do is to discover the root cause, such as one of the above list. Then, you and your health care provider can address the specific issue. He or she may also prescribe fertility drugs, such as Clomid or Pergonal can greatly increase your chances of ovulating. These drugs can also greatly increase your chance of having a twin or multiple pregnancy.

Some women choose to address anovulation through herbal means. There may be herbs that can help with helping to induce ovulation. Vitex, also known as chastetree berry is one of the most popular. Evening Primrose Oil helps with producing fertile quality cervical fluid and vitamin B6 helps to lengthen the luteal phase (the time from ovulation to menstruation). Dong Quai is another herb that purports to regulate hormones, which would also help with ovulation.

When you think about the accuracy of FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) testing, you are really talking about two separate questions. First, there is the question of the accuracy of FSH testing using over-the-counter FSH testing kits. The second question relates to the accuracy of FSH testing in regard to determining whether or not you will have problems trying to conceive.

First, FSH testing using home FSH testing kits can be very accurate. If the test is done on day 3 of your cycle (which is the third day of menstrual bleeding), and the results are read in the specified time frame, FSH testing can be as much as 96% accurate at telling you whether or not you have elevated levels of FSH. In this regard, the accuracy of FSH testing tends to be very high. Having said that, there are indeed some things that can drastically affect the accuracy off FSH testing. One of the potential things that can affect the accuracy of FSH testing is the fact that levels of FSH can vary throughout the day. Another thing that can affect the accuracy of FSH testing is that, if there is a tumor in the hypothalamus, FSH testing may show low levels of FSH. In addition, being pregnant or menopausal will cause FSH testing to be inaccurate altogether. Using oral contraceptives can affect the accuracy of FSH testing, as well. Even something as simple as breastfeeding can affect the accuracy of your FSH testing.

The second issue in terms of the accuracy of FSH testing is, for the most part, cut and dried. Research suggests that as many as 99% of women who show elevated levels during FSH testing will be unable to conceive without some sort of infertility treatment. In addition, infertility treatment for women with high FSH levels tends to be very aggressive, and can most often involve the use of donor eggs. This is because the woman with high FSH levels, very likely, has very few eggs on reserve that can be fertilized.