The fertility specialist and the health care team may or may not be sensitive to these problems. Some fertility practices now include a nurse practitioner whose job it is to provide facts and empathic support. During an infertility evaluation the male is evaluated first. If the couple's infertility is due to him, the most likely cause is his sperm. In a woman, however, infertility may be due to a variety of causes.
Sperm analysis is the first step for the man.
When no evidence of reproductive dysfunction can be found in the male partner, study of the woman begins. The initial test, the Huhner test, collects cervical mucus, in the doctor's office, within 2 hours of sexual intercourse. Mucus is examined under a microscope to see if sufficient live sperm are present and whether enough mucus is present to ease the passage of sperm through the genital tract and into the fallopian tubes, where fertilization takes place. Sometimes a woman with normal menstrual periods does not produce an ovum with each menstrual cycle. This can be determined by a basal body temperature chart, which a woman creates at home by taking her own temperature before getting up in the morning.