Secondary Care Fertility Services

For your fertility referral to be accepted, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must have been trying to conceive regularly for a year,
• You must have a BMI of under 35kg per m2; and
• You must be a non-smoker.

If you do not fall into these categories, your referral cannot be progressed until you have met this criteria.

We understand that many couples have anxieties about attending the Fertility Clinic for the first time. We hope the below information will put you at ease:

Your appointment will be in one of the consulting rooms at gynaecology outpatients at Singleton Hospital (Ward 16). When you arrive, check in at reception and then take a seat in the waiting area until you are called to see the doctor.

A nurse may take basic measurements e.g. weight, height, blood pressure of one or both partners. The doctor will ask you questions about yourself and may clarify some information that you have written in your self-history questionnaire; this could involve sensitive information about your periods and timing of sexual intercourse. A transvaginal ultrasound scan is usually undertaken at the first visit with a chaperone present. You may also be asked to undertake an intimate examination.

Although every effort will be made to ensure that you are seen on time for your appointment and by the same doctors, at times this may not be possible.

Medical students or visiting doctors will often be in clinic. We would be most grateful if they could attend your consultation, but, of course, the choice is yours and your decision in no ways affects your investigations or treatment.

Please ensure if accessing treatment as a couple that you and your partner attend the appointment, if not this could result in the appointment being cancelled.

The results of your tests will be discussed at your appointment and a plan for further tests and management will be made. We try to complete any further tests in as short a time as possible.

In general, a problem will be identified in 4 out of 5 couples who seek help. For the others, the cause remains unidentified (unexplained); many in this group subsequently go on to achieve a pregnancy without treatment.