Antega Canada · Learning Centre
A–Z Fertility Glossary
325 fertility terms explained in plain language.
325 terms
A
Fertilisation with the wrong number of pronuclei.
The time since last ejaculation before a semen sample.
Optional extras offered alongside IVF, most with limited evidence.
Endometrial tissue within the muscular wall of the uterus.
Egg number and egg quality decline with age, gradually then faster after the mid-thirties.
A GnRH agonist used instead of hCG to mature eggs and cut OHSS risk.
No known safe level of alcohol in pregnancy; caffeine is usually limited.
Absence of periods.
A blood test that estimates the size of the remaining egg pool.
A diagnostic test sampling amniotic fluid in pregnancy.
Hormones such as testosterone that are raised in some cases of PCOS.
Inability to ejaculate.
An abnormal number of chromosomes in an egg, sperm or embryo.
Cycles in which no egg is released.
The most common IVF protocol, using a GnRH antagonist to prevent early ovulation.
AMH can be measured at any point in the cycle.
An autoimmune clotting disorder linked with recurrent loss.
Immune antibodies that bind sperm and impair movement.
An ultrasound count of small follicles visible at the start of a cycle.
Scar tissue inside the uterus, usually after surgery or infection.
Thinning or opening the embryo's outer shell before transfer.
The federal legislation governing assisted reproduction in Canada.
A laboratory technique used after repeated fertilisation failure.
Reduced sperm motility.
Conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and IBD need pre-pregnancy planning.
No sperm found in the ejaculate.
B
Chromosome material swapped between chromosomes with nothing gained or lost.
Resting temperature, which rises slightly after ovulation.
The blood test used to detect and follow early pregnancy after treatment.
A positive test followed by loss before anything is visible on scan.
An embryo that has developed for about five or six days after fertilisation.
Growing embryos in the laboratory to day five or six.
British Columbia's provincial fertility funding programme.
Planning for cycle fees, medications, storage and repeat attempts.
C
A dopamine agonist used for high prolactin and sometimes for OHSS prevention.
A treatment cycle stopped before retrieval or transfer.
Legal in Canada, but not established as safe when trying to conceive or pregnant.
Testing prospective parents for recessive genetic conditions.
The national registry collecting Canadian assisted reproduction cycle data.
Problems at the cervix that hinder sperm passage or transfer.
Fluid produced by the cervix that becomes stretchy and clear around ovulation.
The Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, the national professional body.
Absent vas deferens linked with cystic fibrosis gene variants.
Comparing clinics on outcomes, practice, access and cost.
A placental sample for genetic diagnosis, usually at 11 to 14 weeks.
Persistent low-grade inflammation of the uterine lining.
An embryo two or three days after fertilisation, of two to eight cells.
External assessment of clinic and laboratory standards.
An older oral medication for ovulation induction.
Manufacturer programmes that may reduce fertility medication costs.
Fertilisation of an egg by a sperm, leading to an embryo.
A uterus formed differently before birth.
Injectable hormones used in IVF to grow several follicles at once.
The structure left behind after ovulation that makes progesterone.
Travelling outside Canada for fertility care.
Long-term storage of eggs, sperm or embryos in liquid nitrogen.
The chance of a baby across all transfers from one egg retrieval.
D
Early-cycle hormone tests, usually FSH, LH and oestradiol.
Blood glucose control before conception affects both fertility and pregnancy.
A transfer complicated by the shape or narrowness of the cervical canal.
Fewer eggs remaining than expected for your age.
Telling a child about their donor-conceived origins.
Canada has no national donor registry; identity practices vary by source.
Building a family using donated sperm, eggs or embryos.
Eggs donated by another person, used with IVF.
Embryos donated by another family after their own treatment.
Repaying a donor's receipted expenses — the only payment permitted in Canada.
Health, infection and genetic checks required before donation.
Sperm donated by another person, used for IUI or IVF.
Someone conceived using donated sperm, eggs or embryos.
Whether fertility medications are paid by a public or private drug plan.
E
A pregnancy implanting outside the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube.
Collecting and vitrifying unfertilised eggs for later use.
The procedure that collects eggs from the ovaries with an ultrasound-guided needle.
Choosing to transfer one embryo when more are available.
Embryos stopping development before reaching the blastocyst stage.
Removing a few cells from a blastocyst for genetic testing.
Deciding what happens to embryos you will not use.
A score describing how an embryo looks under the microscope.
Placing an embryo into the uterus through a fine catheter.
The laboratory scientist who handles eggs, sperm and embryos.
The controlled environment where eggs, sperm and embryos are handled.
Both people's consent is normally needed to use stored embryos.
Workplace support ranging from insured coverage to leave arrangements.
Time off for treatment, and rights around pregnancy loss.
No eggs recovered despite follicles appearing on scan.
A small sample of the uterine lining taken for laboratory examination.
A small benign growth of the uterine lining.
An ovarian cyst filled with old blood, caused by endometriosis.
Endometrial-like tissue growing outside the uterus.
The lining of the uterus, which thickens each cycle and is shed as a period.
Seizure control and medication choice both matter before pregnancy.
Difficulty obtaining or maintaining an erection.
An embryo with the expected number of chromosomes.
Moderate activity is encouraged; high-impact exercise is limited around retrieval.
F
The chance of conceiving in a single menstrual cycle.
The roughly six days ending on the day of ovulation when sex can lead to pregnancy.
A sperm entering an egg and the two sets of chromosomes combining.
No eggs fertilising after insemination or ICSI.
A counsellor with specific training in fertility, donor conception and surrogacy.
A lawyer specialising in reproductive law and parentage.
Storing eggs, sperm, embryos or tissue to protect future options.
Conception is usually still possible with a single ovary.
One healthy testis is often enough for normal sperm production.
The scan around six to seven weeks that checks the pregnancy's location and heartbeat.
A supplement taken before conception to reduce neural tube defects.
The fluid-filled sac in the ovary that contains a developing egg.
Serial ultrasound scans that measure growing follicles during a cycle.
The first half of the cycle, when follicles grow and the lining rebuilds.
A repeat expansion linked with early ovarian insufficiency and fragile X in children.
Small cellular fragments seen between the cells of an embryo.
Freezing every suitable embryo instead of transferring in the fresh cycle.
Transfer during the same cycle as egg retrieval.
Transfer of a thawed embryo in a later cycle.
The pituitary hormone that drives follicles to grow.
Periods stopping because of low energy availability, exercise or stress.
G
Specialist advice on inherited conditions and testing choices.
The written agreement setting out expectations in a surrogacy arrangement.
Diabetes first appearing in pregnancy.
A medication that first stimulates then suppresses the pituitary.
An injection that immediately blocks a premature LH surge.
Injectable FSH-based medication that stimulates the ovaries.
H
The pregnancy hormone, also used as a trigger injection.
Federal regulator for assisted reproduction, donor safety and medicines.
Your provincial or territorial health insurance card.
An employer-funded account that can pay eligible medical costs.
Sustained scrotal heat can temporarily lower sperm quality.
Human menopausal gonadotropin, containing both FSH and LH activity.
Using contraceptives or agonists to plan and prepare a cycle.
An ultrasound-based test of tubal patency using contrast rather than X-ray.
A blocked, fluid-filled fallopian tube.
High blood pressure should be controlled and medications reviewed before pregnancy.
An overactive thyroid, which can also affect cycles and pregnancy.
Low sex hormone production by the ovaries or testes.
Low sex hormones because the brain is not sending enough FSH and LH.
The hormone loop between the brain and the ovaries that runs the cycle.
An underactive thyroid, which can disturb cycles and pregnancy.
An X-ray dye test that shows whether the fallopian tubes are open.
Removing a cavity fibroid through the cervix, without abdominal incisions.
A camera examination of the inside of the uterus.
I
A single sperm is injected directly into an egg during IVF.
An egg that has not yet reached the stage where it can be fertilised.
The embryo attaching to and embedding in the lining of the uterus.
Embryos not implanting despite repeated good-quality transfers.
The legal term in Canada for an embryo outside the body.
Not conceiving after a year of regular unprotected sex, or six months if the female partner is 35 or older.
A hormone from growing follicles or Sertoli cells that feeds back on FSH.
How fertility injections are prepared and given.
The part of a blastocyst that becomes the baby.
Reduced response to insulin, common in PCOS and type 2 diabetes.
Travelling to another province for fertility care.
Prepared sperm placed directly into the uterus around ovulation.
Eggs are collected and fertilised in a laboratory, then an embryo is transferred to the uterus.
K
A blood test that examines the number and structure of chromosomes.
Chronic kidney disease affects fertility and needs joint planning.
An extra X chromosome in males (47,XXY), often causing very low or absent sperm.
A donor who is a friend or relative rather than anonymous.
L
Keyhole surgery to view the pelvis, tubes and ovaries directly.
Removal of abnormal cervical tissue after an abnormal Pap test.
Who the law recognises as a child's parents — set provincially, not federally.
An oral aromatase inhibitor widely used for ovulation induction in Canada.
Routes to parenthood for same-sex couples, trans and non-binary people.
The hormone whose surge triggers ovulation.
The sharp rise in LH about 24 to 36 hours before ovulation.
An older IVF protocol that suppresses the pituitary before stimulation begins.
Blood-thinning treatments used only for specific diagnoses.
The second half of the cycle, after ovulation, when progesterone prepares the lining.
Progesterone, sometimes with oestrogen, given after transfer.
M
An egg that has completed the maturation step needed for fertilisation.
A federal tax credit that can include certain fertility-related expenses.
Moving your history, results and stored material to another clinic.
Canada's publicly funded health insurance, administered by each province and territory.
Checking existing prescriptions for safety in conception and pregnancy.
Keeping fertility medicines at the temperature stated on their Canadian labelling.
Some prescribed and non-prescribed products reduce sperm production.
Twelve consecutive months without a period, marking the end of ovulation.
Antidepressants and related medicines need a planned, not abrupt, review.
An insulin-sensitising medication sometimes used in PCOS.
Microsurgical testicular sperm extraction under an operating microscope.
A blood test about seven days before the expected period that confirms ovulation.
IVF using lower medication doses, aiming for fewer eggs.
Loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks.
A pregnancy that has stopped developing before any bleeding starts.
Altering the DNA passed to future generations — prohibited in Canada.
A practice run to map the route into the uterus.
The compacted ball of cells at around day four.
A PGT-A result showing a mixture of normal and abnormal cells.
Being born without a uterus, with normally functioning ovaries.
Twins or more — the main avoidable risk of fertility treatment.
Surgical removal of fibroids while keeping the uterus.
N
Collecting the single egg produced in an unstimulated cycle.
A cycle ending with nothing suitable to transfer or freeze.
All tested embryos returned abnormal chromosome results.
A blood test in pregnancy screening for common chromosome conditions.
Sperm production itself is severely impaired.
Programmes helping with medical travel from northern and remote communities.
A refundable provincial tax credit for eligible fertility and surrogacy costs.
O
Sperm are produced but cannot get out.
The main oestrogen, produced by growing follicles.
Tablets or patches used to build the lining in frozen transfer cycles.
An excessive response to fertility drugs that makes the ovaries swell and fluid shift.
Steps that reduce the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.
Ovulating infrequently or unpredictably.
Infrequent periods, typically cycles longer than 35 days.
A low sperm concentration.
Ontario's publicly funded fertility programme, delivered through participating clinics.
The medical word for an egg.
Surgery to bring an undescended testis into the scrotum.
Inflammation or infection of the testis or epididymis.
A fluid-filled sac on the ovary, usually harmless.
An estimate of how many eggs remain in the ovaries.
Surgically removing and freezing ovarian tissue for later re-implantation.
The ovary twisting on its blood supply — a surgical emergency.
The release of a mature egg from an ovary, usually once per cycle.
Medication used to make the ovaries release an egg.
A urine test that detects the LH surge a day or so before ovulation.
P
Groups and services offering support alongside clinical care.
Bands of scar tissue that distort pelvic anatomy.
Infection of the upper genital tract, often from untreated chlamydia or gonorrhoea.
A scan of the uterus, ovaries and pelvis.
The years of hormonal change leading up to the last period.
Testing embryos for the correct number of chromosomes.
Testing embryos for a specific inherited single-gene condition.
Testing embryos where a parent carries a chromosome rearrangement.
The gland at the base of the brain that controls FSH and LH release.
A small cell extruded by the egg as it matures.
A common hormonal condition causing irregular ovulation.
Very few follicles or eggs despite adequate stimulation.
The test confirming sperm are absent after a vasectomy.
Use after death requires specific, prior written consent.
Blood tests and checks offered before pregnancy or treatment.
A pregnancy carried alongside the anxiety of previous loss.
A positive pregnancy test with nothing yet visible on ultrasound.
Testing embryos before transfer for chromosome or gene conditions.
Ovarian function ending before age 40.
Birth before 37 weeks.
Never having conceived before.
Your family physician or nurse practitioner — usually the route into fertility care.
Employer or personal insurance that may cover fertility drugs or treatment.
The hormone that prepares and maintains the uterine lining after ovulation.
Vaginal, oral or injectable forms used to support the luteal phase.
Acts banned outright by Canada's federal assisted reproduction law.
The hormone of milk production, which suppresses ovulation when high.
A blood test for the hormone that can suppress ovulation when raised.
Fertility funding set by each province or territory, not nationally.
Several provinces offer credits or grants rather than direct funding.
A blockage where the tube joins the uterus.
R
One partner provides the eggs and the other carries the pregnancy.
Two or more consecutive pregnancy losses.
The written request from a primary care clinician that gets you seen at a fertility clinic.
An obstetrician-gynaecologist with extra training in fertility and hormone disorders.
A urologist with extra training in male fertility and reproductive surgery.
Semen passing backwards into the bladder instead of outward.
Protection against German measles, checked before pregnancy.
S
An ultrasound with saline in the uterus to outline the cavity.
Surgical removal of a fallopian tube.
Having scans and bloodwork locally while the main clinic directs the cycle.
Difficulty conceiving after a previous pregnancy.
Medication given so egg retrieval is comfortable.
A laboratory test of sperm volume, concentration, motility and morphology.
A laboratory test for infection in semen.
Choosing an embryo's sex — prohibited in Canada except to avoid a sex-linked disorder.
Safe disposal of used fertility injection needles.
A protein that binds sex hormones and affects how much is active.
Transferring one embryo at a time to avoid twin pregnancy.
hCG increasing more slowly than expected in early pregnancy.
Smoking reduces fertility in all genders and raises pregnancy risks.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.
Choosing to become a parent without a partner, usually with donor gametes.
Pharmacies that dispense and deliver fertility medications.
The number of sperm per millilitre of semen.
A test of DNA damage in sperm, with a limited and debated role.
Storing sperm for future treatment.
The proportion of sperm with a normal shape.
The proportion of sperm that are moving, and how well.
Laboratory processing that concentrates the most motile sperm.
The roughly 72-day process of making sperm.
Testing for sexually transmitted infections, notably chlamydia and gonorrhoea.
The written consent that governs stored eggs, sperm and embryos.
Annual charges for keeping eggs, sperm or embryos frozen.
Reduced fertility rather than an absolute inability to conceive.
A fibroid bulging into the uterine cavity.
Collecting sperm directly from the epididymis or testis.
Someone who carries a pregnancy for intended parents.
T
The most common cancer in younger men, with important fertility implications.
A twisted testis cutting off its blood supply — an emergency.
The main male sex hormone, essential for sperm production.
Taking testosterone suppresses the body's own sperm production.
A uterine lining that stays thinner than expected before transfer.
Any treatment involving a donor or surrogate.
An inherited or acquired tendency to clot.
Antibodies indicating autoimmune thyroid disease.
Blood tests, chiefly TSH, that check thyroid activity.
Continuous photography of embryos inside a special incubator.
Volume × concentration × motility — the practical measure for choosing treatment.
Storing eggs or sperm before gender-affirming hormone therapy or surgery.
Moving from the fertility clinic to maternity care.
An internal ultrasound giving a clear view of the ovaries and uterus.
The timed injection that matures the eggs before retrieval.
The outer cell layer of a blastocyst that becomes the placenta.
Whether the fallopian tubes are open along their length.
Operations to repair or reopen fallopian tubes.
A missing or altered X chromosome in females, usually causing ovarian insufficiency.
The normal appearance of a fertilised egg the day after insemination.
The interval between transfer or insemination and the pregnancy test.
U
A testis that did not descend into the scrotum in infancy.
Standard testing has found no clear cause.
A uterus formed from only one side, with a smaller cavity.
Deciding what comes next after cycles that have not worked.
A radiological fibroid treatment generally not advised when fertility is wanted.
A benign muscle growth in the wall of the uterus.
A band of tissue dividing the uterine cavity from birth.
V
Enlarged veins in the scrotum that can impair sperm production.
Surgery to tie off the enlarged scrotal veins.
A permanent contraceptive procedure dividing the vas deferens.
Microsurgery to rejoin the vas deferens.
A blood test relevant in Canada because of limited winter sunlight.
Ultra-rapid freezing that prevents damaging ice crystals.
W
The queue for a first appointment or for a funded cycle.
Body weight can affect ovulation, treatment response and pregnancy risks.
The double-check system that keeps samples correctly identified.