Most Essential Screening Tests for Fertility

These are tests that are routinely advised for all women who are having an infertility investigation. If you’ve done these tests within the previous six months, they will not be repeated. So, please show us your previous test reports.

1. General Tests (Men and Women)

– Full Blood Count – To check if your Haemoglobin/white cell/platelet count is normal

– FBS/RBS/PPS/HbA1c – To check your blood sugar.

– Urea/Creatinine – To check your kidney functions

– You may be advised to take a Lipid profile if you have PCOS or if you are overweight to see if your cholesterol, triglyceride levels are normal.

2. Infection screening (Men and Women)

– We would screen for Hepatitis B, C, and HIV as a routine

3. Ovarian Reserve Testing (Women)

This is a test to check your ovarian reserve. It is a very important test, it helps us to understand how many eggs are there in your ovary and whether they are increased (PCOS), decreased or satisfactory. This is of immense importance to plan the future course of treatment.

4. Rubella (Women)

Rubella is a virus that causes a common cold. Normally more than 90% of the women have already had this infection and have acquired immunity against it. Women who have never had Rubella virus injection and who get it for the first time while pregnant can have serious consequences to their pregnancy. (The baby can have deafness, blindness or mental retardation). We do IgG testing to confirm immunity. If you’re not immune, we will advise Rubella vaccination and avoiding pregnancy for 1 month after vaccination.

5. Vitamin D (Men and Women)

Much of our population have low vitamin D levels. It plays an important in reproduction. Checking and taking supplements is advisable if the levels are low.

6. Thyroid (Women)

4-5 in 100 women in the reproductive age group will have low thyroid levels. Reduced levels of this hormone can reduce the chances of becoming pregnant and also increase the risk of miscarriage or affect the baby’s IQ and growth. We check thyroid levels and ensure it’s adequately supplemented if deficient. A high level of thyroid hormone will also require correction to ensure a problem-free pregnancy course. Antibodies against the thyroid gland may be present in quite a few women and this suggests that the woman may develop altered thyroid function.

7. Semen Analysis (Men)

This is the most important test to assess whether you have adequate sperm numbers (count), movement (motility) and appearance (morphology). We advise you to do this test after 2-3 days of abstinence-only. Your test results will be discussed by the doctor. You may be advised other blood tests rarely if you have other medical problems.

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