After one, two or several of the tests, you will be told one of three things: There is definitely something wrong (for example the man is producing no sperm). You won’t be able to get pregnant without treatment which will try to cure or get round the problem. You can then decide whether you want to go ahead with treatment.

Something is having a mild effect on your fertility (like irregular ovulation or endometriosis) but you could still get pregnant without intervention, although it may take a little longer. In this case, the process of weighing up the costs and benefits of possible treatments is more difficult.

Your infertility is ‘unexplained’ - there is no apparent physical or hormonal cause. You could still conceive, but you may not. If you have unexplained infertility it doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason why you’re not conceiving, just that doctors haven’t been able to identify it yet. This sort of infertility can often be treated successfully through techniques such as IVF, which may bypass whatever the hidden problem is.

Different causes of infertility require different approaches and you need to decide whether you want to go ahead with treatment at all and, if so, consider which treatments are available on the NHS and which treatments you could access as private patients.

NHS or private?

What will be available to you on the NHS depends on where you live. Many health authorities make no funding available for infertility treatment. In other areas, what is available will be strictly rationed; for example, drug treatment may be available but nothing else or, if your health authority does fund IVF, it may only be available to married couples under 35. Your Community Health Council will have a list of the criteria for treatment in your area.

However, even if your health authority considers you eligible for treatment, there are financial implications, including the hidden costs of taking time off work and travel expenses (you may need to make very many journeys to the clinic). You also need to remember that waiting several months for an appointment is not unusual.

One of the main advantages of private treatment is that, if you have the ability to pay, you can by-pass NHS waiting lists as long as you conform to the clinic’s own eligibility criteria. If your GP will agree to fund the costs of the drugs you will need, this can mean the difference between being able to go ahead or not. It is worth asking if your GP will do this, as many will. If you have a private health scheme, ask if your insurance will fund any part of the investigations or treatment.

It is important to take time out as a couple once you know the results of the initial tests to consider the emotional and the financial implications of treatment. Your GP can put you in touch with a counselor if you want to talk things through, and you will be offered counseling if you’ve been referred for IVF or treatment involving donor eggs or sperm. Whether you decide to go ahead with treatment or not must ultimately be your own decision