Tools for better conversations
Learn the words your clinic will use, one card at a time. Plus printable worksheets, and the professional guidelines everything here is based on.
Fertility terms, in plain language
37 words you may hear, each linked to the topic that explains it.
- Androgens
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A group of hormones, including testosterone, present in both women and men at different levels.
PCOS (PMOS)
- Anovulation
-
A cycle in which ovulation does not happen.
PCOS (PMOS)
- Antral follicle count (AFC)
-
The number of small follicles seen on ultrasound early in a cycle.
Fertility Testing
- Blastocyst
-
An embryo at around day five or six of development.
IVF
- BMI
-
Body mass index: weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. A rough screening measure, not a measure of health.
Lifestyle and Fertility
- Catheter
-
A thin, flexible tube used to place the sample in the uterus.
IUI
- Chromosomal abnormality
-
A difference in the number or structure of chromosomes.
Female Fertility
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
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A talking therapy that helps you notice and change unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaviour.
Emotional Health
- Concentration
-
The number of sperm per millilitre of semen.
Male Fertility
- Corpus luteum
-
The structure the follicle becomes after ovulation; it produces progesterone.
Your Cycle
- Egg quality
-
An egg’s biological and chromosomal competence to develop into a healthy embryo.
Female Fertility
- Endometrioma
-
A cyst on the ovary related to endometriosis.
Endometriosis
- Endometrium
-
The lining of the uterus.
Endometriosis
- Estradiol
-
A form of oestrogen produced mainly by developing follicles.
Fertility Testing
- Fecundability
-
The chance of conceiving in a single menstrual cycle.
Lifestyle and Fertility
- Fertility preservation
-
Freezing eggs, sperm, embryos or tissue for possible future use.
Egg Freezing
- Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
-
A range of lifelong conditions caused by alcohol exposure before birth. It is completely preventable.
Lifestyle and Fertility
- Folic acid
-
A form of the B vitamin folate, taken before and in early pregnancy to protect against neural-tube defects.
Fertility Supplements
- Follicle
-
A small fluid-filled sac in the ovary that contains a developing egg.
Your Cycle
- Frozen embryo transfer (FET)
-
Warming a frozen embryo and transferring it in a later cycle.
IVF
- HSG
-
Hysterosalpingogram, an X-ray test that checks whether the fallopian tubes are open. Some clinics use an ultrasound version instead (HyCoSy or HyFoSy), which avoids X-rays and tends to be less uncomfortable.
Fertility Testing
- ICSI
-
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection: injecting a single sperm into an egg.
IVF
- Laparoscopy
-
Keyhole surgery using a small camera to look inside the pelvis.
Endometriosis
- LH surge
-
A rise in luteinising hormone that triggers ovulation.
Your Cycle
- Live birth rate
-
The proportion of women, cycles or treatments that result in a baby being born. The outcome that matters most in fertility research.
Fertility Supplements
- Luteal phase
-
The part of the cycle after ovulation and before the next period.
Your Cycle
- Morphology
-
The size and shape of sperm.
Male Fertility
- Motility
-
How sperm move, including whether they move forward (progressive motility).
Male Fertility
- Neural-tube defect
-
A condition, such as spina bifida, in which the baby’s spine or brain doesn’t form properly in early pregnancy.
Fertility Supplements
- Oocyte
-
The medical term for an egg.
Egg Freezing
- Ovarian reserve
-
An estimate of the number of eggs remaining in the ovaries.
Fertility Testing
- Polycystic ovarian morphology
-
An ultrasound appearance with many small follicles.
PCOS (PMOS)
- Primordial follicle
-
The earliest, resting stage of a follicle.
Female Fertility
- Psychosocial support
-
Emotional and practical support offered alongside medical care.
Emotional Health
- Sperm preparation (washing)
-
Laboratory processing that separates sperm from seminal fluid.
IUI
- Two-week wait
-
The time between ovulation or embryo transfer and a pregnancy test.
Emotional Health
- Vitrification
-
A rapid freezing technique used for eggs and embryos.
Egg Freezing
Write it down
Free inside the Fertility Starter Guide. Print them and take them to your next appointment.
Built on professional guidance
Every topic is checked against current guidelines and the research behind them, and lists its own sources. These are the guidelines relied on most.
- WHO World Health Organization The 2025 guideline on preventing, diagnosing and treating infertility, and the standard laboratory manual for semen analysis. who.int
- NICE National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK) The 2026 fertility guideline: when to seek help, which tests to have, and treatment. nice.org.uk
- South Africa National Department of Health National clinical guidelines for safe conception and infertility (2020): how care is organised in South Africa. health.gov.za
- ESHRE European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology The 2022 guideline on endometriosis, and 2023 good practice recommendations on treatment add-ons. eshre.eu
- ASRM American Society for Reproductive Medicine The fertile window, ovarian-reserve testing and egg freezing. asrm.org