A fertility specialist is a doctor with advanced training in reproductive health and fertility. This type of doctor diagnoses and treats people who are infertile due to medical conditions, as well as those who are infertile for unknown reasons. A fertility specialist, for example, may assist a woman who has had one of her ovaries removed in order to conceive, or a couple who has no obvious reasons for infertility. Sterilization reversal is also performed some fertility specialists.
Fertility specialists assist in determining the cause of infertility in individuals or couples. A fertility specialist examines a patient and takes a detailed medical history in order to diagnose her. Either of these procedures could reveal a health problem that could lead to infertility. If there is a medical reason, a fertility specialist will usually assist the patient in starting a treatment plan that will increase the chances of conception. If there is no obvious medical cause for infertility, the specialist may suggest laboratory tests to aid in the diagnosis of fertility issues.
A specialist may suggest a variety of fertility tests. Hormone tests are one of them, and they’re used to see if hormonal changes are the source of the problem. Surgical procedures or ultrasound exams are used in some tests to look for blockages or abnormalities in the male or female reproductive system. A semen analysis may be performed a specialist to determine whether a man’s sperm count is sufficient for fertilization. He may also choose to test a woman’s cervical mucus after intercourse to see if the mucus is preventing her partner’s sperm from surviving and moving.
A fertility specialist can help an individual or couple struggling with infertility with a variety of treatments. Medications to stimulate ovulation or increase sperm production, hormone-balancing drugs, and hormonal treatments to promote pregnancy and prevent miscarriage are among them. Some procedures are also designed to clear blockages in reproductive organs. Some fertility specialists may even be able to reverse sterilization in order for a couple to become pregnant. A specialist may, for example, perform surgery to reverse a vasectomy, which prevents a man from fathering children.
Fertility treatments may or may not assist a couple or a single person in conceiving. In this case, a fertility specialist may recommend procedures to increase the chances of conception. Intrauterine insemination, which involves placing sperm inside a woman’s uterus, or in vitro fertilization, which involves fertilizing an egg and implanting the embryo into the uterus, are two examples of procedures that a specialist might perform.