[Poppycorn95]

At what age did you go to your first doctor regarding your fertility issues? And also, if you feel like discussing it, what was the issue?

My husband and I went when we were 22 years old. I already had my Jenna from a previous relationship. We knew that Matt had less than a 1% chance of getting me pregnant, but didn't realize he shot blanks. (This was due to his surviving Testicular Cancer.) At that time we just wanted another child, I didn't care where it came from, as long as it was a real live child. So since it was going to cost the same amount to adopt from Ukraine as it was to try IVF, we chose to adopt. It wasn't until last year that we really tried to start having a biological child together.

[CryingInside]

I knew when I was young that I had problems. My doctor didn't listen to me or my mother when we told him that I had severely painful menstral cycles. He thought it was in my head and wanted to prescribe zoloft or something. Finally when I was about 22 (I think) I asked my friend who was seeing a fertility specialist for the name of her doctor. I had my first appointment sometime later that month and everything kinda went from there.

[mdbrum16]

I had always had painful AF, but my Dr. just gave me BC when I was 15. They weren't so bad after that so I never gave it a second thought until I was 22 and we wanted to try for a baby.

[hope4baby]

I finally went as a last straw when I was 26 to the doctor's. I had no idea it was endometriosis or anything to do with fertility/ menstrual pains.
I had horrible painful cramps as a teen that boiled down to cyst. I was put on BC when I was 17 and had been on them since I turned 25. DH and I thought perhaps we were ready for a baby so I went off the BC for a few cycles to get things normal that's when all the trouble started.
I was dx with endo dec. 06 Now we're ttc, I'm on provera for 10 days then clomid CD 5-9 after that. I have to go every 6 weeks to get blood drawn do to subclinical hypothyrodism.

[jenedens6102]

We started trying to concieve one week after I turned 21. Just a month after I turned 22 we began seeing our RE. At 25 I'm now pregnant! Our issue, or the only fertility issue we've been told, was my DH's sperm. He had a low count (but manageable), boderline motility and horrible morphology. Between his first and second semen analysis was about two years and there was improvement. We haven't had a SA since July 2006 but obviously we have more improvement or we wouldn't be here!

[cat]

I was told I was probably going to have trouble conceiving when I was about 20 becuase I had Pcos symptoms but I didn't go to an RE until 30, after a year of trying on our own.

[Deb94Ag]

It was a month before I turned 35. We tried for 5 months and then did an S/A on husband. He had chemo when he was 12 so we were pretty sure there was not going to be anything there and we were right. As far as we know I am fine.

[Murphette]

I first went to an OB/GYN about not getting pg when I was 26. I had been off bcp's for about 2 years. Got the standard relax it will happen when it happens. He had me doing ovulation prediction because he didn't think I was ovulating. No tests on DH or me other than OPK's. When I moved to Florida I went to an OB/GYN whose ad said they specialized in fertility. Don't get me wrong he was a nice enough doctor. Did an SA on DH -- no problems there. Did an HSG on me and found blocked tubes. Did a hysteroscopy and laparascopy in 94 to unblock tubes and remove polyps from uterus. Told me to wait three months, come back for another HSG. One tube had reblocked but other was fine. He told me at that time to give it some time as it would take longer for me to get pg with only one tube. Nobody ever mentioned RE's opr IVF to me at all. Finally got pg in December 1997 and it was ectopic. Unfortunately had an allergic reaction to the Methotrexate shot they gave me for the ectopic and had my "good" tube removed in February 1998. At that time, he told me my only chance in having a child was IVF with an RE or adoption. Went to see Re but unfortunately cost was prohibitive for us at that time and no insurance coverage. I wish my first OB/GYN in DC would have told me about RE's much sooner when I had infertility coverage -- or that my Florida OB/GYN had mentioned it sooner.

[jencat215]

I went to my ob/gyn for my annual and when she asked about kids I told her that we were trying for about 6 months but nothing. I was 33. She gave me clomid and I only took it for 1 month. I was about to finish grad school so I decided to take a break and find a job, then get settled in and start again. 6 months later I got pg naturally, but m/c'ed. This was 2 weeks after starting my new job! DH and I decided we really wanted a baby after feeling that brief joy, so the ob/gyn gave us clomid again and on the 3rd month we got pg, but m/c'ed twins. She did some b/w and had DH do a SA (all that came back was a MTHFR hetero mutation). She put me on extra folic acid and baby aspirin and I had 3 more rounds of clomid but didn't get pg (this was earlier this year) so she sent me to a RE in April.

[sarah16]

I started trying for my second child in Feb 2005 but waited until June 2006 before I started meds with my OBGYN then went to the RE in Feb 2007.

[Persephone1881]

We started trying to get pregnant about 9 months after we got married. By "trying" I mean I stopped taking birth control pills. The first OB/GYN I was seeing was pretty pathetic when it came to fertility. He wasn't concerned with why I wasn't ovulating, he just gave me medication to make my period start (which I didn't take since I didn't really see the point). He gave me Clomid once and then seemed to forget that I was even trying to get pregnant. After a couple months of being irriated with him, I got the name of my friend's OB who had helped her get pregnant with her two girls. That was about February of this year. He diagnosed me with PCOS and put me on birth control for 9 weeks. After that he did an HSG (please may I never have to have another one) that showed everything working well enough. He told me to try for a couple months naturally and if we got no results, to come back. Well, just before I was ready to go back to him, he had to take an extended leave because of health problems. His office referred me to the RE that I'm now seeing who put me on 1500mg of Metformin and now has me on 100mg of Clomid with regular ultrasounds and bloodwork.

[Dona]

"technically" I went in when I was 25 and single but that doctor just put me on pre-natals, ha! It was just an OB-GYN. Then, with my husband, I went to an OB-GYN when I was 32 and he ran tests, did HSG, surgery, etc. for over 2 years, then I took a break and went to my RE in September of '06!

[Hopeful07]

Well my DH had a V after his 1st marriage. Never thought he would have kids again and then met me. Decided to undergo a VR which failed. Then went for VR #2 in March '06. SA never gets over 26 mil but according to most RE's that is good for a VR patient. I don't think morphology is bad however never had a Strict Krugers Morphology (new RE is going to do one in Dec). After trying for 1 year w/o conceiving went to 1st RE who tried an IUI ( ) and then found fibroids. Was not sure if that was a problem so we tried another IUI ( ). Went to a O.B./R.E. who stated that he was not sure if my fibroids were a problem but felt that they quite possibly could hinder my chances of carrying a child to term. Underwent surgery and now here we are - waiting for either a 3rd IUI or IVF. We have not decided.

[Stacey4iu]

The thought of infertility never even crossed my mind until we started TTC 3 years ago. When I didn't get pregnant right away, I wasn't too worried. After 6 months, I started to wonder, but my gynecologist said that I should wait a year.

Ever since I started my period, I have had a lot of pain, and finally told my doctor...she put me on birth control, but I wish she had told me the possibilities that might lie down the road for me. Anyway...birth control certainly eased the pain, but now I realize that my husband and I didn't need to worry so much when we were first married!!!

It's heartbreaking, but...it's my path...for now.

[skatingva]

I had always had painful cramps as a kid, but was given high doses of pain medication as not to put me on BC that early. Went on the pill at age 22. Later on in life, at age 29, started having pain during intercourse, around the same time my sister was going through infertility issues and was diagnosed with endometriosis. I talked to my OB and he did an ultrasound. He found what he though were cysts that could have been cuasing some pain...but wanted to do a laporascopy to be sure. Instead found sever endometriosis. From everyone i have spoken to and all that i have read, there is no clear hereditary connection, but still intriguing that we both had these issues.

Later, I moved cities to be with my now husband and went to an RE at my old doctor's suggestion. We literally met with 4 doctors until we foudn the one we go to now and love. It is a huge decision and you want to make sure you are comfortable and 100% trust your RD. He told me if my first diagnosis was accurate that I shoudln't bother with fertility drugs, but go straight to IVF when we were ready to start (we weren't married yet). He did another laporascopy and cleaned me out and discovered that what he had thought were completely blocked tubes were only partially blocked. not enough to have a baby naturally, but somehow it made me feel better. My husband and I got married at age 30 and we tried naturally for almost a year. Started IVF this year at age 31 with my RE and we just LOVE him. We are currently on round 2 and doing a FET cycle...hopefully all will work out.