Fertility tests before TTC?

Parentberries
#1

[name_m]Hi[/name_m] all!

Has anyone done any pre-emptive female fertility testing? What did you have done? Did you find it helpful?

A bit of context: I’m 33, no children, not by choice. It took me a while to meet the right person and though we’ve been together 1.5 years, I know it’s going to be a long road for my boyfriend to be ready. He is 34 and he just takes his sweet time with everything.

I have had a long history of gynecological problems and I want to revisit my concerns with him. But, I feel like it would be more fruitful if I could bring concrete evidence of my concerns, like having a low egg count or something. And if everything looks fine, then maybe that will put my mind at ease (a little bit). I had a transvaginal ultrasound last year for a separate issue and they didn’t find anything wrong anatomically. I have a long history of missing periods without any other explanation so I wan to get serious about my options before it’s too late.

I have an appointment with my doctor soon so we can discuss but I wanted to hear others’ experiences. TIA!

#2

If you’ve got a history of gynaecological trouble, then I think it makes perfect sense to do some testing pre-ttc. The more info you have, the better.

I’ve not personally done this, as I’ve not had reason to, but I have friends that have done testing based on other issues. It’s hardly hindered them to have the extra knowledge.

#3

I haven’t done any fertility testing prior to TTC, but it sounds like a great idea. I did meet with my OBGYN a few times before starting TTC and talked about what we should be doing and good vitamins to take and all that. [name_m]Even[/name_m] that helped my anxiety because I knew some things to be paying attention to and how to get off on the right path. If you have a history of issues, it sounds like it might help ease your mind to just meet with your doctor :grinning:

#4

I went to a fertility clinic prior to conceiving when I thought we would be doing genetic testing of embryos due to a family history of a gene mutation, though we changed our minds when Covid slowed the whole process to a halt. [name_f]My[/name_f] SO was also a bit slow to the uptake (we had been together just shy of 3 years at the time) due to anxiety, but he knew the process of having kids was important so he agreed knowing it would be a slight wait. When that wait prolonged, we tried naturally.

Most of the testing I did was blood tests, checking AMH levels, hormones, presence of STD/STI, PCOS, etc. In the end I was clear of issues to do with fertility, but fertility wasn’t the reason I went so it was a bit of a different experience. SO had to do semen analysis as well as a blood test.

It did assure us that when we did try, we had no known issues. Our reason for going initially was very different though.

[name_f]My[/name_f] periods were previously also irregular so there was the query of PCOS that had to be checked out.

#5

It sounds like a great idea to check out your reproductive health as part of maintaining your general health.

#6

Yes!! [name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I made an appointment with our family doctor (he also is an OB) and told him we wanted a check up before TTC. He ordered some blood work to check hormone levels, which is how we found out about my hypothyroidism, and gave me some advice. As more time went on and more issues became apparent, he ordered more tests. I’m thankful we did go in when we did.