"Infertility Diagnosis"

I contacted my GP practice regarding fertility concerns in March 2024. I ended up speaking to all 3 GPs in the practice over several months- none of whom seemed to know the correct times of the month to test progesterone, lh and fsh. 

When I was dismissed a few times, I broke down in tears to the nurse in the practice during a routine cervical smear. The nurse was so amazing and listened and reassured me and made sure I received my first face to face appointment with a GP which unfortunately was still incredibly rushed and did not lead to any conclusions. 

My husband was given a blood test to test his fertility which I found bizarre and was told the results were all normal and no further tests were required. A couple of months later a different GP in the practice told my husband he needed a semen analysis and that he could drop this off at the GP reception then hung up on him before he could ask about abstinence before the test, where to get a sample bottle etc. I thought it was bizarre that a GP surgery would accept this kind of sample and he called the reception back who confirmed this was incorrect then gave him an out of use number for a infertility clinic. 

After a lot of back and forth he got through and self referred but this definitely should have been done through the GP. 

When my blood tests were completed at the wrong time of month yet again and I was told my progesterone was low and this would suggest I wasn't ovulating- they tested it before I would have even ovulated based on the length of my cycle. The GP gave up and finally referred us as a couple to the infertility unit. 

When my husband's result came back as low sperm count, he had to arrange his own GP call to even receive the results in which the GP did not even tell him the result, they said there must have been an error with the test as there was not enough sperm to test and when my husband tried asking more questions, was told to just wait on a letter to go back and do another test. This left both of us extremely stressed and feeling confused and dismissed. 

After going through all tests with Monklands, we finally had it confirmed that my fertility was perfectly fine, however we would need IVF due to my husband's low sperm count and motility. Blood tests performed on my husband also confirmed low testosterone, something that should have been picked up in the blood test performed by the GP, however he was told this result was normal. If the GP had correctly assessed low testosterone, they could logically have confirmed sperm count may be impacted and arranged the semen analysis - instead it was my persistence and going back and forth that resulted in another GP confirming we did in fact need a semen analysis to rule out male infertility.

I am amazed that this practice does not have a pathway that they follow for infertility initial tests and referrals and how much they messed us about. I knew more about fertility testing based on some quick online searches than any of the 3 GPs in the practice. 

Because of them, we did not receive a diagnosis until December 2024 and could not be added to an IVF waitlist until we had seen a consultant. 

The GPs at at this practice displayed zero empathy or care when dealing with us and have no idea the stress they caused to us when having children was our biggest dream. I hope this story reaches the relevant manager and things can be different for other couples. I initially typed a massive complaint with exact dates etc which I planned to hand into the surgery but didn't even want to have to deal with them again.