Monday November 24, 2008
Have you checked out our infertility message boards? It's a great place to meet people who understand where you are coming from, not to mention finding support as you try to get pregnant.
On the message boards now, we're talking about a number of topics, like secondary infertility and PCOS treatment.
There is one thread in particular that I think we can all relate to. Tina writes:
"Since we realized that we had fertility problems, I have been having a really hard time with being envious. A few months ago I had a church meeting with a couple women and we talked about infertility. I expressed how hard it is for me to cope with it. A month later one of those women got pregnant, and she has literally tried her best to rub it in.
She is a very competitive person and I guess that's the same with her pregnancy. I understand that it is an exciting thing to be pregnant and you'd want to share this experience with others, but she mentions her pregnancy during church meetings at every occasion possible. I want to feel happy for her, but it is just so hard for me. Almost every Sunday, I come home, and I just want to cry."
Can you relate? Come read the rest of Tina's story and share your experiences with baby and pregnancy envy here.
Or come and write your own post! We'd love to have you join our community.
Forget about Egg Freezing - Instead, Freeze Your Ovaries?
Thursday November 13, 2008
Egg freezing is all the rave this past year or so. I’ve read about egg freezing in Self Magazine, on news sites like CNN, and elsewhere. While egg freezing is an exciting new way to possibly preserve fertility in women with cancer, that’s not what’s made the headlines.
It’s women choosing to freeze their eggs when they are in their 20s, so that later in life, when they want to have kids, they won’t need to be as concerned about age related infertility. That’s the idea, anyway.
The thing is, I have a serious problem with the marketing of egg freezing procedures to young women, for the sole purpose of extending their motherhood years. And I have good company -- The American Society of Reproductive Medicine also objects to the marketing of egg freezing to patients looking to avoid age related infertility.
For cancer patients, egg freezing offers hope. It makes sense to take a risk on this new procedure, since without it, the possibility of having kids after treatment may be completely gone. But I feel it’s unethical for the fertility clinics to offer egg freezing for fertility age-extending reasons.
Why? Because egg freezing is a brand new procedure. There has been perhaps a few hundred pregnancies from frozen eggs, and all of these pregnancies were short-term freezes. Hours or days, at most months – never years, certainly not decades. No one knows how successful these egg freezings will be, especially over the long term.
But at least egg freezing has been tried out a few hundred times. I was completely surprised to see an essay in the UK’s Telegraph written by Dr. Sherman Silber promoting ovary freezing to young women looking to extend their fertile years. He writes, “I see no reason why this technique to prolong reproductive life should not be routine for all women who want it.”
I see a big reason: because no one has gotten pregnant and given birth after having a frozen ovary thawed and placed back. There have been a handful of cases where pregnancy was achieved after a slice of ovarian tissue was replaced, but again – only a handful, and usually pregnancy was achieved using IVF.
Read more...Monday November 10, 2008
Will you get pregnant with Clomid twins? Maybe. Clomid is one of the most frequently prescribed drugs for anovulation and unexplained infertility. Side effects are well tolerated by most women, but the risk of having twins is nothing to laugh about.
You can read about the chances of getting pregnant with twins while taking Clomid, as well as factors that may increase the risk, in this article:
Of course, not everyone is worried about getting pregnant with twins. In fact, some couples without fertility problems ask their doctors for Clomid just to increase their chances. (I think no one told these women about the Clomid mood swings!)
I’m never sure about what I think on this topic. Every time I take fertility drugs, I worry about the risks involved, especially the risks of getting pregnant with multiples. But at the same time, getting two-for-one wouldn’t be so bad, and it’s much better than no pregnancy at all!
What do you think? Would getting pregnant with twins be a dream come true, or less than ideal? Take the poll and let us know.
Read more about Clomid and fertility drugs:
Monday November 3, 2008
Acupuncture may be the best known alternative medicine treatment for infertility. Whether or not acupuncture can help you get pregnant is a matter of debate, but that doesn’t keep me from being curious.
When I think of tiny little needles being placed in my body -- voluntarily, of all things -- I can’t imagine it being a positive experience. But those who have tried acupuncture say it’s relaxing.
Despite my fears, I may just take a leap and give acupuncture a try some day. It’s interesting what baby-fever will get you to do.
Have you ever considered trying out acupuncture? Or would you rather pass? Take our poll and let us know. (You'll find the poll at the bottom of this blog post.)
You can also read more about acupuncture and fertility in these articles:
If you have tried out acupuncture, I’d love to hear more details. Feel free to leave a comment below, or a post in the forums, telling us about your experience, whether good, bad, or just so-so.
