Low cost infertility testing? Or, help my friend get knocked up.

chaosisorder

I have a good friend who has been trying for 2 years to get pregnant. She has been unsuccessful and the crux of the problem seems to be she has crazy irregular periods (6 months nothing and then a period lasting 2 months.) Like most people, her health insurance will not cover fertility issues so she only has the most basic of answers for what is going on (ie, it's not going to kill her.)

Is there anything out there that offers low cost or subsidized testing, specifically for hormone imbalances, or ovulation testing?

Her and her husband have done all the research, but it still comes down to far too many possibilities to narrow down without very expensive testing and they'd rather put that money towards raising a new baby.

She's in Arizona and yes, Mexico is an option if anyone has suggestion towards that end.

Thank you oh wise H&A!

stawk

i would say it would prolly be easier to have her husband tested since i can only assume that sperm donation facilities will tell you if you are shooting blanks.

mystikspyral

As a woman with issues along those lines I'd say it sounds like she needs to see a doctor, period (no pun intended). She may have fibroids or some other reproductive issue. Some of them can be fixed with medication and/or surgery. She may not be infertile but she may have a condition related to the bleeding that is making it very difficult to get pregnant.

jeepinryan

I'm not totally sure how insurance companies work with this kind of stuff, but maybe she could phrase it differently when she goes in to the doc. Basically, instead of going to the doctor saying "I can't get preggers, halp!?" she should go in saying "my periods are horribly irregular and I think there could be potential health effects. What can help?" She should make sure her health is fine and the pregnancy/fertility stuff will come after that.

Just my .02 and completely unprofessional thoughts. Obviously, trained and professional medical advice is preferred, even if it involves paying up.

chaosisorder

She's gone to her doctor to get cleared of anything tha could affect her health (that which is covered by insurance) and an ultrasound ruled out fibroids and tumors and her blood work looked basically normal. So her insurance feels if she isn't in pain or dying, she's a-okay.

I'm hoping to find a clinic that might do low cost or if anyone has adive on how to rule some other problems out, that'd be gret.

jeepinryan

My mistake...it sounds like she has done as much as she can with her insurance and has ruled out all of the things that could be a health concern for her.

Is she dead set on having a baby of her own? Adoption can be a great thing and many jobs have adoption assistance programs that are separate from their health plans. She could look into that option if she's not against it.

Caramel Genocide

One of the conditions that may cause that sort of bleeding is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (abbreviated as PCO or PCOS) - women with it can have an almost impossible time of getting treatment without medical intervention. There's been some recent hope in a supplement called d-chiro-inositol. I recommend she check out somewhere like soulcysters.net to see if PCOS sounds like what she's got.

Rear Admiral Choco

Yeah, my mother's got that herself, actually. Apparently it was a huge surprise that she was able to have me, not to mention my sister a year later. Her period patterns were similar to the ones you described, sometimes even more out there. But hell, if my mother could do it, I'm sure your friend could as well. My parents tried for a while, and eventually it worked. I know there could be a bit more science to it, but if all else fails just tell her to hold out hope.

Sir Carcass

There are at home fertility tests you can buy, similar to a home pregnancy test.