If you are concerned about your fertility

Information for the public

If you are concerned that you may have a fertility problem, your GP should ask you about your lifestyle, general health and medical history. They should ask how long you and your partner have been trying to get pregnant and about aspects of your sexual health and history that could be affecting your chances of having a baby.

If you and your partner have been trying to get pregnant for more than 1 year, you should both be offered tests (see tests for men and tests for women).

If you are using artificial insemination rather than sexual intercourse to conceive (using either donor sperm or your partner's sperm) and you are not pregnant after 6 cycles, you should be offered tests. If you are having artificial insemination using your partner's sperm, your partner should also be offered tests.

You should be offered earlier referral for specialist advice and tests if any of the following apply:

The woman is aged 36 years or over.
There is a known medical reason for your fertility problems, for example you have had cancer treatment that has affected your fertility, or you have a condition or problem that may have affected your fertility.

If you or your partner has a long‑term viral infection (such as HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C) that could be passed to your partner through unprotected sexual intercourse or passed to your baby, you should be referred to a centre that has the expertise to provide your investigations and treatment safely (also see HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C).

For couples who want to have a baby but are unable or find it very difficult to have sexual intercourse (for example, because of a physical disability), your GP should talk to you about your options for conceiving, and advise you on any further assessments you might need and possible treatments that could help you.