An early infertility diagnosis matters, a lot.
An early infertility diagnosis matters, a lot.
You know the value of starting your day early, saving for vacation early, and getting on the returns line early at Macy’s on the day after Christmas. So why would getting a head start on seeking fertility help be any different?
The truth is an early infertility diagnosis is so important that it could alter the type of care you receive and affect your outcome. At New York Reproductive Wellness (NYRW), we know the value of an early diagnosis first-hand.
But why is early diagnosis important? Because when it comes to infertility, time is not exactly on your side, especially if you’re a woman. The earlier you seek help, the more likely you’ll get pregnant faster, and with less intensive treatment.
We’ll letDr. Greg Zapantis, founder of NYRW breaks this down for us: “Women are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have over the course of their lives. Unlike men, who constantly produce new sperm, women have a finite supply of eggs – maybe one million at birth, and then only a few hundred thousand by the time a young girl begins to menstruate and ovulate those eggs. “
Dr. Zapantis added, “because of this, a woman’s egg supply is constantly shrinking, and her eggs are constantly aging. What that means is that both the quantity and quality of a woman’s eggs drop with time, and it becomes harder to get pregnant.”
While peak fertility for women is actually in their mid-to-late 20s, fertility really begins a downward slope at 35 years old, with a more significant decline at 37. By the time a woman is in her early 40s, her chances of getting and staying pregnant – either naturally or with the help of assisted reproduction treatments like In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) – are slim.
Instead, she will most likely not get pregnant at all or experience miscarriage if she does get pregnant, since most of the embryos created with older eggs are genetically abnormal, or aneuploid
Now, back to you. Maybe you’re in your early thirties and have been trying to get pregnant for six months without success – too early to see a specialist, right? No way! While you might not technically be infertile, the more you know now, the better.
For example, if you get a diagnosis of Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR), which is when you have fewer eggs than you should at your age, you can get started with IVF treatment right away, without wasting another cycle (IVF has the highest success rates of all fertility treatments).
OK, makes sense, but what if your fertility issue is not egg-related, and instead revolved around your partner’s low sperm count or your blocked fallopian tubes? Well, first, you wouldn’t know those were your issues unless you received a diagnosis from a specialist, so that’s one reason to get help as soon as you think something might be off (trust that gut, ladies). Second, the faster you have a diagnosis, the sooner you can get on with treatment and make the most of every cycle.
Essentially, time is of the essence when it comes to fertility – the sooner you act, the better off you’ll be. Now, if you feel a little rushed reading this, don’t worry – the point is not to stress you into action, but to illuminate that you have more control over this process than you thought.
You got this.
