What Is a Fertilitiy Doctor?

A fertility doctor is a reproductive endocrinologist — a physician who practices a subspecialty of obstetrics and gynecology called reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI). REI is an area of medicine that addresses hormonal functioning as it pertains to reproduction and infertility in both women and men.

U.S. fertility doctors have four years of Ob/Gyn training before they undergo training in infertility with a three-year fellowship.

When you select HRC Fertility as your fertility clinic, one of our fertility doctors will do an infertility work-up, which includes a patient history and physical examination. The fertility doctor will also run tests to check whether you are ovulating with adequate progesterone stimulation of the uterine lining and whether you have any endocrine problems.

An infertility work-up also typically includes a hysterosonography or hysterosalpingogram so the fertility doctor can diagnosis conditions such as fibroids, polyps or blocked fallopian tubes. It may also include an endometrial biopsy to determine whether hormone levels that are out of balance are affecting the endometrium.

Once the fertility doctor has gleaned as much information as he or she can from the infertility work-up, fertility treatment recommendations will be made.