10 Things to Ask Your Fertility Specialist
Knowledge is power, and when you’re sitting in the room with a fertility specialist for the first time with sweaty palms and knees knocking is almost impossible to feel empowered. The confronting feeling of putting all your faith into someone you’ve never met before to help you make a baby is overwhelming and it’s easy to go along with whatever is said to you. Your mind is going a hundred miles a minute, your mouth is dry and all of a sudden you can’t even remember your name. I had a list, a long list of questions, none of which I asked until the second appointment, or at least I don’t remember asking them because the whole appointment is a blur.
Here’s my top 10 things to ask your Fertility Specialist
1) What tests do we need?
Emphasis on the WE. You may know the reason you are sitting there but there could also be something going on with your partner that is making it even more difficult to conceive.
2) What diet and lifestyle changes do you think we should make?
You may not know the small changes that you can make which drastically improve your fertility, or in the very least make you feel like you are helping the situation a little.
3) Are there less invasive or more conservative options?
Most forms of fertility treatment have a simple starting point. For me that was a tablet instead of injections so we started at the very beginning and worked our way up. You’ve come too far to miss a step.
4) Does your facility offer counselling?
At some point, even if it’s not right now you are going to want to talk to someone that isn’t your partner, family member or friend. Someone who you can say the deepest, scariest things to without fear of it coming back to bite you.
5) How many cycles of each treatment before the next step?
For me I like a plan, a backup plan for that plan and then another one to cover the backup plan. I like to know what’s coming, and how long I’ve got til I get there. But I’m a control freak!
6) How likely is it, given my condition/reason for being here that this will work?
Your fertility specialist may not like to answer this one, but unless you know what you’re dealing with you can’t start to process the information.
7) How much does each step cost?
IVF isn’t cheap, we all know that. So if you can get an idea of the prices involved in each step you can plan and budget for them. Financial stress isn’t something you need added to this already very stressful situation.
8) What are the risks of a multiple pregnancy, and if it does occur how will I be managed?
The chances of more than one baby is drastically increased when you’re doing fertility treatments, and you need to be prepared. We were asked how many babies we would feel safe and comfortable with in one pregnancy and our specialist is on board with our decision. Obviously you are a high risk pregnancy when carrying more than one and you need to make sure you, your partner and specialist are all on the same page.
10) Are we really at the point of needing fertility treatment, or can we try naturally for a bit longer?
Trying naturally was really important to me, despite the fact that I knew it most likely wouldn’t work. It was something I needed to do before I was ready to take the first step and my specialist gave me a couple of months to do that.
