What Is a Fertility Doctor or Fertility Specialist?
A fertility doctor is a reproductive endocrinologist — a physician who practices a subspecialty of obstetrics and gynecology called reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI). REI is an area of medicine that addresses hormonal functioning as it pertains to reproduction and infertility in both women and men.
U.S. fertility doctors have four years of OB/GYN training before they undergo a three-year infertility fellowship.
When you select a fertility clinic, a fertility specialist will do an infertility work-up, which includes a patient history and physical examination. The fertility doctor will also run tests to check whether you are ovulating with adequate progesterone stimulation of the uterine lining, and whether you have any endocrine problems.
An infertility work-up also typically includes a hysterosonography or hysterosalpingogram so the fertility doctor can diagnosis conditions such as fibroids, polyps or blocked fallopian tubes. It may also include an endometrial biopsy to determine whether hormone levels that are out of balance are affecting the endometrium. Once the fertility specialist has gleaned as much information as he or she can from the infertility work-up, fertility treatment recommendations will be made.
Our Southern California Fertility Doctors
A fertility doctor (reproductive endocrinologist) should be consulted early in the course of infertility treatment. According to standards set by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), women less than 35 years of age who have unsuccessfully been trying to conceive for one year are considered infertile. Most infertility doctors shorten this time to six months in women aged 35 and older.
Infertility specialists complete residency training in obstetrics and gynecology. After this training, they are required to complete an accredited Fellowship program in reproductive endocrinology and infertility to become a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE). The Fellowship is usually completed within three years and includes extensive research and clinical experience in diagnosing and designing appropriate treatment for infertility, administering in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, laparoscopic surgery and many other areas.
Fertility doctors also undergo advanced training in performing delicate microsurgical procedures.
Egg Donation, Inc’s Southern California agency in Los Angeles is proud partner with the best IVF clinics around the world. We work closely with Reproductive Endocrinologists and third-party IVF coordinators, with positive results.
Your decision is the right one and when you are ready, we will be too. We are host to one of the most successful egg donor programs in the United States and the world. At the forefront of advances in egg donation technology, we invite you to see why we are one of the leading egg donation agencies. Visit our about us pages to see what makes us the agency of choice.