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Survivors Say: The Best Resources for Infertility

• RESOLVE - The National Infertility Association This membership organization is the country's largest and has a wealth of information to help women and couples struggling to conceive, plus in-person and online support groups and seminars about infertility.
• WebMD Infertility Center - Trying to Conceive
• Medline Plus - Infertility

Medical Treatments

Medical treatment for difficulty conceiving can range from your doctor simply advising you to increase sexual activity to monitoring a woman's fertility to taking Clomid (a drug that increases the production of eggs) to in vitro fertilization (IVF), in which a woman's eggs are removed, fertilized with sperm, and placed back in her uterus. (IVF is part of what are called "assisted reproductive technologies," or ART.) Your doctor will start with the least invasive approach, depending on the results of your medical evaluation. These sites offer good summaries of the options for treating infertility with medical interventions:

• Mayoclinic.com: Infertility - Treatments and Drugs
• Centers for Disease Control: Assisted Reproductive Technology
• Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies
• Womenshealth.gov: What medicines are used to treat infertility in women? 
• Babycenter.com: Fertility Treatment - Donor eggs and embryos

What Do I Need to Find Out From My Insurance Carrier?

• Will my treatments and doctors’ visits be covered?
• Are my rates going to increase?
• Will I be limited in where and when I receive treatment?

What Kind of Doctors Do I Need?
You may see your gynecologist or you may talk to other doctors to help figure out what's causing your difficulty conceiving and/or carrying a baby to term. The specialists who know the most about treating infertility are reproductive endocrinologists (RE).
Resources To Find Doctors

• Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Search the society's database to find an RE near you.

Books Suggested by Survivors

• The Fertility Journal: A Day-to-Day Guide to Getting Pregnant by Kim Hahn, Geoffrey Sher, MD, and the editors of Conceive Magazine 
• Fertility and Conception: A Complete Guide to Getting Pregnant by Geoffrey Sher
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler
• The Infertility Cure: The Ancient Chinese Wellness Program for Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Babies by Randine Lewis

Keeping the lines of communication open between you and your doctor

• Be rigorously honest with your physician so they may properly address your condition.
• Keep in touch with your doctor and offer updates on your progress with treatments and any side effects.
• Let your doctor know what lifestyle changes you're making.

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