At what point did you go to an infertility specialist?

[isaberg]

So I'm trying to figure all this out, and my Dr. is helpful, but tests and things seem to be getting done sort of piecemeal, every few months I call and she'll think of some sort of test for one of us. I dont think this is the way to diagnose anything. Are there clinics out there? Do you need to be referred? How does this work?

[MaddieMay]

I think a lot of it depends on your insurance. For my insurance, I have to be referred if I want to see a specialist. I'm sure the other ladies on here will have more advice for you, though. I haven't been to an infertility clinic because I know what my problem is (endometriosis) and at this point, I'm not interesting in doing anything about it as far as drugs, etc. go.

Good luck!

[Dena]

We were diagnosed right out of the gate with very severe male factor IF, so we were shipped off to a specialist right away.

As for a referral, well, no, we didn't need one, as our crappy insurance doesn't pay for IF treatment. We did get a few diagnostic things paid for, and our clinic gives a discount to self-pay patients.

I think most clinics will accept you if you have been trying for six to twelve months and have not had any success with your OB. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine (www.asrm.org) has a state by state listing of member docs and a lot of info about infertility.

All the best to you.

[tuck]

My situation is a little different, but the info may help nonetheless....
I was ( and still am) in a same-sex relationship, so we went directly to a fertility clinic nearby for a consultation. At the time I had no known fertility issues, so we paid for the iui. After three iui's ( all of which we paid for) and three miscarriages, my insurance then took over as I was officially a "fertility patient". I was then approved for ivf...The insurance I had at the time approved 3, and I was fortunate to conceive my son on the first one!
We have been trying for another child for the past year- all ivfs. I now have a different insurance, an hmo, which only approves one cycle at a time. This has been hugely stressful, as each time I don't know if we'll get approval again. Most expenses have been covered with the hmo...what has not been is donor sperm ( purchase, shipping, storage) and the thawing of frozen embryos. That was quite expensive and unexpected. hth, good luck!

[Starr]

I knew I had endometriosis and after TTC for 2 years with nothing we just decided to adopt. Now that Olivia is almost a year we did go and have a HSG done just to see what was going on. Dr. said he could refer us to an ER in the cities but would like to get DH tested before we rush into anything. Not sure if you need a referral or not. Still trying to see what my insurance will cover.

[kristenok18]

We decided to consult someone after ttc 1 yr. I was charting, so knew we were timing things right. They wouldn't look at me until they tested dh, and they found a problem right away with him. While treating him, I started to have some issues that I still feel are related to my cycle (dr doesn't think so, though), so I went to be seen. 2 yrs later, we've found a treatment that seems to work with dh but are still working on me. I'm supposed to start clomid with the next cycle, so we'll see where that takes us.

I wanted to go to someone earlier, but dh was very hesitant. I just knew something wasn't right, but it took alot of work to convince dh! If you think something's wrong, don't wait. The diagnostic process takes long enough as it is.....

Good luck!

Kristen

[quantumleap]

Hi,
Just wanted to add my 0.02, and another voice saying get yourself an appointment asap if you suspect problems. The way things look for us at this point, it will be about a year from first crappy SA to actual treatment, which is a long time, especially when you've already been trying for a period of time. And who knows if treatment will be successfull.
Sooner is better, because really, there's enough impatient waiting in the whole ttc process. Why prolong it any further?
Best of luck.
Katia

[SusannahM]

Most of the infertility doctors (reproductive endocrinologists) I've heard of will accept a patient without a referral. So, it just depends on your insurance whether you need one.