What to expect at your first fertility consultation

So you’ve scheduled an appointment through a patient coordinator, and you’ve filled out your medical history and gathered any relevant test results, and now you’re ready for your first consultation! Your first appointment at a fertility clinic may feel nerve-wracking, but when it comes to helping you successfully conceive, a fertility specialist could make all the difference in the world.

Preparing for the Consultation

Before you have your first consultation with a fertility specialist, chances are you scheduled the visit through a patient coordinator who asked you a few basic questions, including your insurance information, and asked you to complete a medical history and gather any relevant test results conducted by your OB/GYN, primary care physician, or another fertility clinic. The clinic’s billing department will have contacted your insurance provider to determine how much, if any, you need to pay out-of-pocket for your first consultation. You should be prepared to answer any questions the physician might have about your medical history to help them devise the best plan possible to help you conceive.

At the Consultation

At your first fertility consultation, you’ll sit down with your physician to review your medical history, and discuss a plan for identifying and treating whichever condition of infertility is hampering your efforts to conceive. Your fertility specialist will clearly explain the process, and your options, in order administer the fertility treatment that is perfect for you. Because some conditions of infertility may be more difficult to diagnose than others, your fertility specialist may recommend a physical examination, including a pelvic ultrasound, in order to see your uterus and ovaries to figure out where the problem lies, and to determine the best course of action possible for your particular case.

After you meet with your doctor and undergo an examination, you’ll meet with a nurse who will go over the process again to make sure everything is perfectly clear. You then might have the option to meet with an in-house financial counselor if the clinic provides one, who can go into further detail with you about what tests, procedures, and medications your insurance plan covers to devise the course of action that makes the most sense for you, based on your doctor's recommendations.

Following the meeting with a financial counselor, you and your partner will probably undergo further testing to diagnose the issue affecting your attempts to conceive. This usually means that you’ll both take blood tests, as well as fertility-specific testing like a semen analysis, hysterosalpingogram (HSG) to check on the functioning and anatomy of the uterus and fallopian tubes, and other blood work to determine the supply of eggs you have in your ovaries.

After all of these tests are complete, you will schedule a follow-up appointment to go over your test results and determine the best plan possible to help you conceive. Infertility can be a struggle, but a fertility specialist is the perfect person to help identify and treat any issue affecting you and help you achieve your pregnancy goal.

Visit the Resources Page for more information about fertility treatments, and your options.