IVF Fertility Assessment

If you are having difficulties falling pregnant, or it’s taking longer than you would like, your first step should be to organise an IVF fertility assessment at The Fertility Centre.

The Fertility Centre offers patients a comprehensive IVF fertility assessment to identify the possible causes of what’s affecting your chance of conceiving. Results of your assessment are reviewed by an experienced fertility specialist who is best qualified to recommend a suitable treatment plan for you.

Both partners should attend the initial consultation to be evaluated. This ensures that your fertility test results give the most accurate indication regarding the reason/s you are having difficulties conceiving. Both male and female factors can equally contribute to fertility problems.

Your fertility assessment begins at your first appointment at The Fertility Centre, when one of our experienced fertility nurses will take a thorough medical and family history. The nurse reviews any previous tests performed by your GP or fertility specialist. They will arrange for bulk billed pre-pregnancy tests including immunology (e.g. rubella, chicken pox) and screening for infectious diseases (e.g. hepatitis B and C) if you have not recently had these checked.

The nurse will then conduct the following preliminary investigative tests:

Female fertility tests

  • Reproductive and thyroid hormone analysis (blood tests)
  • Infectious disease screening (blood tests)
  • Chromosome analysis to identify chromosomal variations (karyotype blood test)
  • Pelvic ultrasound scan
  • Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) blood test – this measures the concentration of Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) in a woman’s blood as it has been shown to be a good predictor of a woman’s egg reserve (the number of eggs remaining in the ovaries). A low AMH level may indicate low egg reserve and high levels of AMH can be indicative of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). 

Male fertility tests

The primary test for male fertility is a semen analysis. So as part of your fertility assessment, arrangements will be made for the male partner to provide a semen sample to assess sperm quality. This is usually collected via masturbation at a later date, to be delivered to the clinic at an arranged time.  

Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (SCSA) to identify damaged DNA within the sperm may also be recommended by your fertility specialist, at an additional cost. 

Additional blood tests that will be bulk-billed include:

  • Reproductive and thyroid hormone analysis
  • Infectious disease screening 
  • Chromosome analysis to identify chromosomal variations (karyotype blood test)

Advanced genetic test for both partners

As a member of Virtus Health, we have a partnership with Virtus Diagnostics, so The Fertility Centre is uniquely placed to offer additional genetic tests if required:

  • Cystic Fibrosis (CF) screening: CF is the most common life threatening genetic condition affecting Australian newborns. About 1 in 25 Australians are carriers of CF, and 1 in every 2,500 babies born in Australia will have CF. The Fertility Centre’s in-house Genetics Laboratory allows us to test one or both partners for the CF mutation. 
  • The Fertility Panel: This is a blood test which has been designed to investigate genes which are specifically associated with you and your partner’s ability to get pregnant or successfully carry a child to full term.
  • Thalassaemia screening: Thalassaemia is a genetic condition affecting the function of red blood cells.  If your test identifies you as a thalassaemia carrier, your doctor will recommend that your partner should also be tested. Both parents need to be carriers of the thalassaemia mutation in order for the child to be affected.  

Please note there are additional costs associated with these advanced tests. Please speak to the team at your local clinic for up-to-date pricing on  genetic tests.