Next steps

WHAT TO DO NEXT / AFTER THE METHOD TABLES

After protection and contraception

These are suggested steps rather than a verdict about any particular situation, ordered the way timing usually matters. Nothing on this page is a prerequisite for asking for care, and nothing here produces a number for a personal risk.

Start with anything that has a clock on it

A few of these decisions get worse the longer they wait; most do not. Emergency contraception is more effective the sooner it is taken, and which option is appropriate depends on the method and the timing: see emergency contraception. After a possible significant HIV exposure, post-exposure medicine should be started as soon as possible and no later than 72 hours, without waiting for symptoms or for a test result.

Name what is actually being prevented

Preventing pregnancy and reducing infection are separate jobs, so the useful question is not whether a method is good but what it is good at. Check the method already in use against the job actually wanted, and look at whether more than one measure is doing work. Reading a published figure for one job as though it answered the other is the mistake those pages exist to prevent.

Decide what to test for, and when

Testing is organized by the kind of contact and the body site rather than by any label: testing and prevention by contact sets out which specimen sites follow from which contact. Window periods matter as much as the test name, because a very early test can read negative while an infection is present, so the date of the contact is worth writing down before the appointment.

If a result comes back positive

Treatment and telling people are separate steps, and the look-back period differs by infection: partner notification windows sets out the periods. Anyone told then decides what to do with that information.

WHAT TO DO NEXT / BEFORE TRYING TO CONCEIVE

When planning a pregnancy

These are suggested steps, not a schedule to pass and not a prediction. None of them forecasts an outcome, and leaving one out is not a verdict on anybody. The reasoning behind each of them is on preparing for pregnancy.

Ask for the appointment early, because parts of it wait on time

Starting around three months ahead is practical scheduling rather than a biological reset: the appointment agenda includes medicine reviews, vaccination intervals and treating an infection, and each of those takes time. A rubella or chickenpox vaccine may need a defined interval before conceiving, which is the clearest reason to start early rather than late. Ask for a preconception appointment specifically, and bring the agenda rather than the question of whether everything is fine.

Folic acid, started before conception

Anyone who may become pregnant can begin folic acid before conceiving rather than after a positive test, because it reduces the risk of neural-tube defects. CDC guidance on planning for pregnancy gives 400 micrograms a day. A higher dose is a clinician's decision and not a reason to stack several supplement products.

Test and treat infections first, for everyone involved

Screening before trying is the point, rather than screening once something has gone wrong: testing and prevention by contact covers what to test and when. Untreated infection can affect fertility, the pregnancy and the baby. Where HIV is part of the picture, treatment and sustained viral suppression, and PrEP for anyone who does not have HIV, are covered on the HIV page — ask the clinic how that applies to conceiving rather than reading it off any page, including this one.

What the sperm contributor can act on

Smoking, heavy alcohol use, some medicines and some occupational exposures are worth raising, and testosterone on its own can suppress sperm production, so medication decisions belong with a clinician rather than with a website. What this page will not do is turn any of that into a claim about a child's health: as the evidence section states, a change in a semen measurement is not the same as a demonstrated change in a child's health, and no defensible percentage divides responsibility between the people involved.

When to ask for an evaluation

Guidance commonly sets evaluation after twelve months of trying when the person using their own eggs is under 35, and after six months at 35 or older, with earlier assessment reasonable over 40 or alongside a known fertility-related condition. Those are thresholds for asking, not deadlines for becoming pregnant. Anyone who needs donor gametes or clinical assistance can ask for that directly: there is no requirement to first demonstrate a year of intercourse that could never have met their reproductive needs.

NO ACCOUNT NEEDED / PRINT IT AND WRITE ON IT

Notes for a clinician visit

If something is urgent, do not wait for this page

Post-exposure medicine for HIV should be started as soon as possible and no later than 72 hours after a possible significant exposure. Pain, bleeding, a fever alongside genital symptoms, a recent assault, or a pregnancy-related concern all need a clinical assessment now. Filling anything in here is not a step that has to happen first, and none of it is a condition of being seen.

How to use this page

Print it from the browser, or save it as a PDF and print it later. The browser's print dialog can also print this sheet on its own. There is nothing to complete on screen and nothing to submit: this page has no fields, so nothing written on a paper copy reaches this site or anyone else. A printed or downloaded copy does stay on the device or the printer until it is removed.

Fill in only what is wanted. A blank line is a legitimate answer, and so is “not sure”. Avoid writing another person's name or identifying details unless it is necessary and they have agreed to it.

What to bring

One line each is enough. A blank line is still an answer.

Questions about testing and prevention

Which tests, and which specimen sites, make sense for the contact I described?

Does the timing mean any of this needs repeating later, and when?

Is any preventive measure time-sensitive for me right now?

If a result is positive, who needs to know, and over what period?

What follow-up should we plan, and how will I be told the result?

Questions about planning a pregnancy

What should change before trying, what can stay the same, and what cannot be predicted?

Which of my medicines, supplements or hormones need reviewing?

Am I immune to rubella and chickenpox, and does a vaccine need an interval before conceiving?

Which infections should be tested and treated first, for everyone involved?

At what point would you want to do an evaluation, and what would it look at?

If donor gametes or clinical assistance are part of this, what is the route from here?

What this page is not

This is a list of things to say and ask, not an assessment. It does not identify an infection, it produces no number for a personal risk, and it is not a plan. No clinician has reviewed it: every page in this collection carries the status “Clinical review pending”, and that stays true until an independent review happens.

Terms used across these pages are defined in the glossary, and the question to start from is covered in use the right question. Source links on this page point to the published guidance behind the collection's other pages, and printing and saving are handled by the browser.