Welcome to the secret language of women! At least that is how it feels when you find yourself reading about fertility blogs and forums.
Navigating through fertility itself can be overwhelming enough but once you find yourself reading forums and online discussions you might feel the struggle is real. That’s why we prepared a wonderful glossary explaining the meaning of each term and abbreviation. We even divide them for you to understand which are used in daily language versus in a scientific context.
Let’s first shed a light on the terms that women use daily language women use especially on online forums.
Daily terms used on social media regarding fertility
| Acronym | Meaning |
| AF | Aunt Flo (period) |
| Baby dust | Like “fairy dust”. It is a way to wish someone good luck in getting pregnant |
| BCP | Birth control pills |
| BD | Baby dance (sex) |
| BF | Breastfeed or boyfriend |
| BFP | Big fat positive (positive pregnancy test result) |
| BFN | Big fat negative (negative pregnancy test result) |
| CD | Cycle day of the menstrual cycle |
| CM | Cervical mucus |
| CP | Chemical pregnancy |
| DD | Dear daughter |
| DH | Dear husband |
| DP | Dear partner |
| DPO | Days past ovulation |
| DS | Dear son |
| DTD | Do the deed (have sex) |
| DW | Dear wife |
| FMU | First-morning urine (pee has a higher concentration of hormones in the morning, so a pregnancy test may give a positive result sooner) |
| HPT | Home pregnancy test |
| IB | Implantation bleeding (slight bleeding or spotting that may happen around the time an embryo implants in the womb) |
| Line eyes | When requesting people to check the pregnancy test to see whether it is positive |
| LMP | Last menstrual period (the first day of your last period) |
| LO | Little one |
| MC | Miscarriage |
| MIL | Mother in law |
| MW | Midwife |
| OH | Other half |
| OP | Orginal post or poster |
| OV | Ovulation |
| OPK | Ovulation predictor kit |
| PG | Pregnant |
| PP | Postpartum |
| PMA | Positive mental attitude |
| POAS | Pee on a stick (take an ovulation/pregnancy test) |
| RB | Rainbow baby |
| SA | Semen analysis (an assessment of sperm quantity, quality, and motility) |
| SAHD | Stay at home dad |
| SAHM | Stay at home mom |
| SAHP | Stay at home parent |
| SMEP | Sperm meets egg plan |
| TTC | Trying to conceive |
| TWW or 2WW | Two-week wait |
What are some the scientific terms when dealing with fertility solutions?
We have collected the scientific names and acronyms for you and created a glossary for easy access to understand what they mean.
| Term | Long form | Explanation |
| AFC | Antral Follicle Count | The total number of antral follicles can predict your response for an egg freezing or IVF cycle egg retrieval. It is best to have an AFC performed at the beginning of your menstrual cycle. |
| AMH | Anti-mullerian hormone | AMH hormone is produced by the ovaries in women. It is responsible to support immature eggs. Measuring AMH is important to predict the egg reserve. |
| ART | Assisted Reprodution Technology | This is treatment to get pregnant by means other than having sex. It includes intra-uterine insemination (IUI) and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – sperm injection directly into the egg. |
| BBT | Basal body temperature | |
| BMI | Body Mass Index | Having a BMI greater than 30 can reduce fertility by 50%. Pregnancy for women with a 30+ BMI is often associated with problems such as maternal diabetes, high blood pressure, big babies and increased risk of caesarean section. |
| Clomid | Clomid is used for the treatment of ovulatory dysfunction in women desiring pregnancy. It acts on the pituitary gland, forcing it to release more follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and more luteinising hormone (LH) than it normally would. This encourages your ovaries to produce follicles and for the follicle containing the egg to grow and develop to ovulation. | |
| DHEA | Dehydroepiandrosterone | DHEA is a hormone naturally made in the body by the adrenal glands near the kidneys and by the liver. |
| DOR | Diminished Ovarian Reserve | Diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) is a condition in which the ovary loses its normal reproductive potential. This condition can be caused by a disease such as cancer or injury, but most commonly occurs due to aging. |
| D&C | Dilation and curettage | Commonly applied after a miscarriage to remove the undeveloped fetus |
| Oestradiol (E2) | Estradiol hormone | Estradiol is one of three estrogen hormones naturally produced in the body |
| FET | Frozen embryo transfer | |
| FSH | Follicle-stimulating hormone | FSH is produced by the pituitary gland, a small gland located underneath the brain. FSH plays an important role in sexual development and functioning. |
| GNRH | Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone | GNHR is produced in the hypothalamus and carried to the pituitary gland as a support to produce luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating (FSH) hormones. |
| HcG | Human chorionic gonadotropin | HcG is the most famous hormone for detection the pregnancy. HcG is produced by trophoblast cells that are surrounding a growing embryo. |
| HSG | Hysterosalpingogram | HSG is an X-ray of the womb and fallopian tubes |
| ICSI | Intracytoplasmic sperm injection | During ICSI, a single sperm is injected directly into the cytoplasm of the egg. |
| IUI | Intrauterine insemination | IUI is a method of conception without sex. With this method millions of healthy sperm are placed inside the uterus close to the time of ovulation. |
| IVF | In vitro fertilisation | IVF is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, in vitro. |
| LH | Luteinizing hormone | Luteinizing hormone produced by the pituitary gland. In females, an acute rise of LH triggers ovulation and the development of the corpus luteum. Therefore it is used to predict ovulation. |
| LHRH | Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone | LHRH the pituitary gland in the brain to make and secrete the hormones luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). In women, they support the ovaries to make estrogen and progesterone. |
| LP | Luteal phase | the phase of your cycle between ovulation and getting your period. |
| MTHFR | Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase | This enzyme breaks down the amino acid called homocysteine. The MTHFR gene that regulates this enzyme can mutate. |
| NFP | Natural family planning | |
| NK cells | Natural killer cells | Natural Killer cells are researched for their impact on implantation failure. Women who have fertility problems, and specifically recurrent miscarriage or failed IVF, are more likely to have higher levels of activity of these NK cells. |
| OHSS | Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome | Using fertility drugs to induce ovulation can cause OHSS resulting in swollen and painful ovaries. The symptoms include mild abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. |
| PCOS | Polycystic ovary syndrome | PCOS is a hormonal disorder common among women of reproductive age. PCOS causes infrequent or prolonged menstrual periods or excess male hormone (androgen) levels. The ovaries may fail to release eggs regularly. |
| PGD | Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis | where IVF embryos are tested for genetic conditions before implantation |
| PGS | Pre-implantation genetic screening | where IVF embryos are tested to make sure they have a healthy number of chromosomes before implantation |
| PID | Pelvic inflammatory disease | |
| PMS | Premenstrual Symptoms | Symptoms include mood swings, tender breasts, food cravings, fatigue, irritability, and depression. |
| REI | Reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist | |
| RPL | Recurrent pregnancy loss | You can order a lab panel to find out why |
| SHBG | Sex hormone-binding globulin | SHBG is a glycoprotein that binds to androgens and estrogens. |
| TSH | Thyroid-stimulating hormone | TSH is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine. |