At Fertility First, we recommend seeking medical advice from your GP or a specialist if you haven’t achieved pregnancy after 12 months of trying, or after six months if you’re over 35.
In some circumstances, we suggest obtaining fertility advice even earlier. These include early menopause, polycystic ovaries, irregular or absent menstruation, a history of endometriosis, current or past cancer treatments for either partner, or a prior vasectomy for the male partner.
As you dream of building your family, we’re here to support your journey. If you’ve already undergone some fertility tests with your GP or referring doctor, that’s fantastic! We can cast an expert eye over these results and let you know if additional testing is needed or whether we have enough details to guide our next steps.
If you’re only just starting out with fertility testing, we will organise the right assessments for you based on your medical history and current situation.
Depending on the clients situation, the Doctors may also refer female patients on for a pelvic ultrasound.
Blood and urine testing is taken to check for vitamin deficiencies, vaccination status and anything underlying that may affect conception or a healthy ongoing pregnancy.
We provide advanced scientific techniques for individuals at risk of hereditary conditions, enabling accurate testing for genetic disorders.
A basic blood test that assesses the Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) concentration in the bloodstream offers a reliable insight into a woman's ovarian reserve.
The HyCoSy test is a technique used by ultrasound to check if Fallopian tubes are open or blocked.
An ovulation test, or ovulation predictor kit (OPK), helps women pinpoint their most fertile days by measuring the surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) in their urine.
Upon entering the female reproductive tract, the sperm will undergo a maturation process which will allow them to successfully fertilise the egg. Just like people who reach puberty at different times, so do sperm. If a sperm matures too early, it will not reach the egg and it will die before it has a chance to fertilise the egg.
The Hyaluronan Binding Assay (HBA test) will allow the andrology scientist to quantify the percentage of the sperm that can bind to this protein, revealing the percentage of a man’s sperm that is mature.
This test can help determine which treatment to apply to a patient. Binding scores that are low are generally recommended for ICSI in conjunction with a viscous medium that allows the embryologist to choose a sperm with normal functionality known as SpermSlow.
Fertility First offers patients the option of the Halosperm assay which is used to assess the fertility potential of sperm by determining the percentage of sperm that contain fragmented and damaged DNA.
The Halosperm assay provides invaluable information about the quality of the DNA inside the sperm’s chromosomes and helps to provide clinical diagnosis and the management of male infertility.
When the Halosperm assay is performed in conjunction with a standard semen analysis, an overall picture can be obtained of the likelihood of the sperm being a factor in a couple’s fertility problems. A standard semen analysis is only useful for determining the transport aspects of sperm i.e. how many there are, how well they move and whether they are the correct shape.
The Halosperm assay provides invaluable information about the quality of the DNA inside the sperm and therefore what the sperm can do when it gets inside the egg.
At Fertility First, we recommend seeking medical advice from your GP or a specialist if you haven’t achieved pregnancy after 12 months of trying, or after just six months if you’re over 35.
There are circumstances where earlier fertility advice is prudent. These may include early menopause, polycystic ovaries, irregular or absent menstruation, a history of endometriosis, current or past cancer treatments for either partner, or a prior vasectomy for the male partner.
To consult one of our Fertility First specialists, both you and your partner will need a referral from your GP. Our compassionate and dedicated team is committed to the shared objective of optimising your chances of realising your dream of parenthood.
Fertility testing involves a series of diagnostic procedures to evaluate both male and female fertility. For women, it typically includes hormone testing, ultrasound scans, and assessing the health of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus. For men, semen analysis and hormone testing are often performed.
The length of time varies depending on the specific tests needed. Some tests, like semen analyses for men or hormone blood tests, can be done within a few days. More complex tests, like hysterosalpingo-contrast-sonography (HyCoSy) for women, may take a few weeks to schedule and complete.
We aim to have your fertility test results back within 2 to 3 weeks, which we will discuss together during a consultation. From here we can talk about what the test results mean for your next steps with treatment, whether that means surgery to confirm a diagnosis or treat a fertility barrier, whether some lifestyle changes might help to improve your chances of pregnancy, or whether it’s appropriate to proceed to fertility treatments such as IVF.
The fees for fertility testing will depend on which specific tests are required. Basic tests always include a blood test for both men and women, a semen analysis for men (including DNA fragmentation tests), and a pelvic ultrasound for women. Depending on the results of these investigations and your medical history, we may organise more advanced testing which may incur additional fees.
Infertility is defined as the absence of a clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular, unprotected intercourse.
Fertility issues affect about 1 in 6 Australian couples of reproductive age. A national survey found that this has been the same for the last 3 generations of Australians.
