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The Next Step

When Is it Time to See an Infertility Specialist?

By Michele St. Martin

Perhaps you've been trying to conceive for some time now, with no luck. Maybe your OB/GYN has done some tests and recommended some treatments, but you're still not pregnant. It could be time for you to consider seeing an infertility specialist.

According to Dr. Lisa Erickson every board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist (OB/GYN) completes a four-year residency, focusing on one of three subspecialties: high-risk maternal/fetal medicine, oncology or reproduction and infertility. Thus, some OB/GYNS call themselves "infertility specialists." But how skilled are they in this area? What exactly is an infertility specialist?

A true infertility specialist is a reproductive endocrinologist (RE), an OG/GYN who has completed three additional years of training in the area of reproduction and infertility and has become certified through passing a series of exams. Dr. Erickson, who practices with the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Minneapolis, is an RE. There is nothing to prevent any doctor from calling her or himself an "infertility specialist," so it may be in your best interest to make sure that the doctor is an RE.

"I think that most patients should be able to turn to their OB/GYN or primary care physician to initiate the standard work-up for the diagnosis of infertility," says Dr. Erickson, who adds, "Some of these doctors are very comfortable with initiating initial treatment options. If those have been exhausted and the patient is ready for the next step, the OB (should) refer the patient to a reproductive endocrinologist."