infertility

When you’re trying to have a baby, few things seem to be more important.  You faithfully keep your appointments with the ob/gyn as you’re starting fertility treatments and tests, just hoping that one day you’ll go in and he’ll tell you the news you’re longing to hear: You’re pregnant.  Unfortunately, sometimes those words just never come, and either you feel it’s time to move on, or he feels he is unable to help you and refers you elsewhere.  Regardless of whose decision it is to move on, you have no choice but to start exploring other physicians.  Before you commit yourself to a doctor, though, do your research and find one you trust and feel comfortable with.  After all, you’re placing your fertility in his or her hands.

If you don’t know many people who have had fertility challenges, it is not going to be easy to get a decent referral from your friends.  You can always get names and numbers from your doctor’s office, and that might be a good place to start.  Also, check with your insurance company.  You’re going to want to know how much coverage you have for infertility (if any) anyway, so get a list of which providers they cover in your general area.  You can also search the internet for forums for those suffering from infertility and ask the people on those boards who they use and what is their opinion of him or her.

Once you have a list of potential doctors, it is time to get down to business and start researching.  See if the doctor has a website, and if so, do you like it? (I know, this seems trivial, but you may just have a gut feeling after looking at the website.) Take a look at your calendar and see when you might be free to talk to some of these physicians.  Most of the time, you will not be charged for an initial consultation but be sure you ask about it when you call to set it up.  Don’t try to schedule all your meetings in one day, or possibly even one week depending on how many candidates you have.  Make sure you take notes at your meeting with all the questions you want answered.  Immediately after you leave the office, take a few more notes on your first impression of the office, staff, nurses, and the physicians.  You must remember that all of these people will be taking care of you to one extent or another, and it’s important that you feel comfortable with them.  If you don’t hit things off with one doctor, don’t immediately dismiss him from your list.  Think about it for a day or two before crossing him off — ask yourself if you were having a bad day, or did something odd happen while you were at the office which could have thrown everyone off.

There is a very good list of questions you might want to ask each doctor at http://infertility.today.com/wp-admin/post-new.php.  Who knows, if you are in Florida, you might consider using that fertility clinic!  You will find a few pages that you can print and make copies if you want so you can be sure to remember the questions you want to ask.

Making the decision to move to a more advanced doctor is a big step.  Everything doesn’t need to be so scary, though.  Just make sure you do your homework, and keep searching until you find someone you’re comfortable with.  You absolutely must be able to trust this physician, and you will be working closely with him and his staff.  Do all of you a favor and make sure you pick the right group to be associated with.  Your future fertility could depend on it!!

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