(To provide more information after Dr. Elan Simckes' recent KTVI FOX 2 News interview regarding infertility issues among women with Type O blood, we've gone back in the Fertility Partnership blog vault to reprint this post about the Fertility Profile. We hope it helps you make an informed decision about when to begin trying to conceive.)

Let's face it, it's time for us to reinvent how we look at infertility. All these years, we have been viewing infertility as a quality of life issue. In fact, it is more like a disease, because human organs are not working as they should. A woman's right to try to get pregnant should be the same as a person's right to not have a broken bone or an infection. Nevertheless, we find ourselves in a situation where only people who can afford it and the few who have insurance can be appropriately treated.

Since infertility care is not generally covered by insurance, the medical community has become reactive as opposed to proactive in our management. Couples often wait a very long time before they seek help, as they fear what lies in store for them if infertility is in fact diagnosed. As a result, many women wait too long and are faced with a serious egg reserve problem. Imagine if a woman or man could find out that there is a problem even before they try to have children. If they found out early on, they could prepare themselves emotionally and financially for the upcoming struggle.

Fertility Partnership has created the Fertility Profile to give women an opportunity to get a snapshot of their reproductive health. If the results indicate that there is a significant depletion in their egg reserve, they can make decisions before it's too late. While the Fertility Profile can give women a good snapshot of their current health, however, it cannot predict that the egg reserve will remain within healthy ranges for a long time. In fact, I have seen women whose fertility indicators have changed dramatically over a very short period of time – as little as six months. But, if there is a problem, a woman has a right to know as soon as possible. As it stands now, a woman generally has to try to get pregnant for a year – six months if over age 35 – before most doctors will initiate a comprehensive workup. At the Fertility Partnership, my objective is to always be proactive and look for problems early on so that big decisions about having a baby can be made in a timely fashion.