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The Next Step

When Is it Time to See an Infertility Specialist?

By Michele St. Martin

Networking with friends who are in infertility treatment can provide good anecdotal information about local REs, as can internet e-mail lists and bulletin boards for infertility patients. It's important to have choices so that you can find the best fit. If you want to be involved in your treatment and "Dr. X" prefers giving orders to collaborative decision making, his clinic may not be a comfortable place for you.

Many experienced infertility patients also caution against relying too heavily on the clinic's success rates: they vary widely, depending on entry criteria into the individual clinic's program. Some programs with high success rates may take only patients who have a good chance of becoming pregnant quickly; those with a lower success rate may either be less competent or, just as likely, be willing to work with patients whose chances of success are lower.

Dr. Erickson thinks that it's important for an RE's clinic to be service-oriented. "At our clinic, we want people to look back and say that we helped them through a hard time and took good care of them," she says.

Dr. Erickson has some good advice about your relationship with your RE: "Chemistry is important. A relationship with your physician is like any relationship, sometimes it has to be worked on. You want a clinic that has the philosophy that it's an honor and a privilege to be part of your journey to parenthood."