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Trouble Conceiving

It's Been a Year: Now What?

Part I

By Lyn Mettler

When you're having trouble getting pregnant, there's that dreaded word that looms closer and closer each month you're unsuccessful: infertility. At what point are you infertile? Most doctors will tell you that for the average couple, after a year of trying to conceive with no contraception, you're placed in that category, or at least you're at the point where you should consider you might need help to make your dreams come true.

So once that infamous month rolls by, what's a couple to do?

The first thing you should know is that "one year" is not the magic number for all couples. In fact, according to Dr. Larry Barmat, director of endometrial lab and donor egg co-culture at Abington Reproductive Medicine in Abington, Pa., the most important factor in determining when to seek help is age. "One year is really an outdated definition for infertility," he says. "It all depends on the couple's age," particularly the female's age.

For example, women in their mid-30s might seek the help of a doctor after six months, and women age 39 and up might only wait three months, Dr. Barmat says. In fact, Dr. William Keye, director of reproductive endocrinology and in vitro fertilization for Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., suggests that women age 40 and up seek the help of a reproductive endocrinologist as soon as they decide to conceive.

Also, couples with prior medical problems that may affect fertility, such as irregular or no periods in the female, prior urologic surgery in the male or current or prior sexually transmitted diseases in either – seeing a doctor sooner rather than later may be appropriate.

Jackie Meyers-Thompson, co-author of Fertility for Dummies

Want to see more?

• Who's Who? An Infertility Starting Lineup
• The Infertility Marketplace: Terms You Need to Know
• Trouble Conceiving? Get the Right Medical Care!
• To the Point: Acupuncture for Conception
• Fertility and Flexibility: Yoga When You're Trying to Conceive
• Predicting Ovulation Using Saliva: A Review of the Ovulite Fertility Test
• Check out our Article Library.
• Join the discussion on our Family.com community!

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