Everyone seems to have a friend, family member or colleague needing assistance to conceive and going through some form of infertility treatment to start the family they desire. Why? Generally we are physically best suited to having babies in our 20s, although the reality is we're usually in our early 30s before we are ready to start a family.

Infertility treatment for women and men is very common with about 1 in 6 couples needing help to conceive and infertility treatments range from natural infertility treatments involving intercourse timing, through to the most advanced scientific infertility treatment options like IVF.

The type of infertility treatment required will depend upon the reasons for infertility, which include issues with production of sperm and eggs; structure or function of the reproductive system and hormonal and immune disorders. Sometimes it's a combination of factors or may be described as unexplained infertility.

Often a woman may have other reproductive health issues that may require other ivf options. For example polycystic ovarian syndrome, recurrent miscarriage, uterine fibroids or endometriosis options are all available. Some women who have conceived naturally may experience difficulties conceiving a their second child and secondary ivf treatments is available.

Female treatment for this very cause may start with understanding your menstrual cycle and 'pregnancy window' or most fertile time of the month when you are naturally ready to conceive - often referred to as infertility natural treatment. Ovulation induction, helps a woman regulate and optimize her production of eggs, often the next step in these specific treatments for women.

The next step in infertility treatment options is often infertility treatment IUI (intrauterine insemination) where a woman's cycle is monitoring and her partner's sperm is inserted just before ovulation to offer a good chance of conception.

The more advanced scientific treatments for infertility include in vitro fertilization (IVF) where an egg is placed with many sperm and natural fertilisation occurs. It's important to know after a woman's age, male infertility is the single biggest cause of a couple's infertility and resulting in needing some form of infertility treatment. The simplest way to understand a man's fertility is to have a semen analysis which will report the number, shape and motility of sperm all important in planning treatments to overcome male infertility.

Many women in particular ask about herbal infertility treatment or infertility natural treatments and fertility specialists would suggest activities that help a woman's overall wellbeing - both physically and mentally - may be supportive in IVF fertility treatments. The key is communicating and ensuring those providing treatments for infertility are aware of all natural treatments you may be taking to ensure they don't contravene each other.

Most infertility can be treated quickly and successfully. Don't try for longer than six months if you are over 35 years of age, or 12 months if you are under 35 before you seek medical help to conceive.

How much does this treatment cost?
In Australia we are fortunate to have the support of the Government and the Australian community making IVF costs affordable. Medicare covers much of the infertility treatment costs, and some procedures involved are covered by private health insurance reducing the costs further. The Extended Medicare Safety Net provides a capped rebate for IVF once an annual threshold has been reached. So the average cost will be $3000 in out of pocket (bottom line costs) after the financial help for that Medicare provides.