If you are a woman who's been trying to get pregnant but failed repeatedly, and have consulted a doctor about it, I am sure that you have already heard of the term "infertility" and "fertility test".
Infertility refers to the condition wherein there's a failure to conceive after a year of regular sexual contacts without contraception.
The condition can be caused by a number of reasons; sometimes it can have no specific cause at all.
Once your doctors suspects that you or your partner can be suffering from infertility, he or she will recommend a fertility test be administered to the both of you to determine the cause, so it can be properly treated.
Many people are not aware how fertility tests are done, so I have gathered below a few of the methods used to do the tests.
Blood test - Older women, particularly 35 years and above are asked by their doctor to have their blood tested, preferably on the third day of their menstrual period.
Hormone tests - hormones that are related to the reproduction process are tested to check if they are on the normal level.
They are namely, Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Progesterone, Free Testosterone, Total Testosterone, Estradiol, Prolactin, DHEAS, Androstenedione, and Free T3.
Ultrasound - Commonly done during the ovulation period, an ultrasound test is used on women, to check the condition of the following; the thickness of the endometrium or the lining of the uterus, the state of ovaries and uterus, as well as to observe follicle development.
Cervical mucus test - This test is normally done a few days before ovulation, after a woman has had sexual contacts with her partner.
What happens with a postcoital test or PCT is that, the doctor collects a sample of a woman's cervical mucus to check its consistency, and if sperm are present and moving freely.
Semen analysis - Men who will undergo this test should abstain from sexual contacts or masturbation for 2-5 days before the sperm analysis is scheduled to be done.
Once the specimen has been acquired, they will check the number of sperm present, their movement, and if they look normal.
Hysterosalpingogram (HSG): This test is done usually when preliminary tests didn't show any clear results as to why a woman is infertile.
It's more comprehensive since it will show a clear picture of the condition of a woman's fallopian tubes, if there are any obstructions or none.
The test is also done to determine the shape of the uterine cavity.
A catheter and dye is used for this test.
Those who went through this test complained of cramping afterwards.
Those are just some of the fertility tests that are normally done when couples complain of their inability to conceive a child to their doctors.
Although these tests can confirm the cause of your infertility problems, there's no need to be hasty in taking advantage of them, especially when there are natural infertility cures that work available.
The tests I mentioned above are not cheap, and you may end up wasting your money just to find out that they couldn't pinpoint the cause of your infertility problem.
You can try natural methods of boosting fertility first, like taking herbs or using a Fertility Calendar.