Fertility Musings, Questions & Answers and News

Inheriting infertility via ICSI

2010-02-06T22:37:00.000-08:00

I read this article in Times Online today. It states that there is now evidence that fathers of test-tube babies may be passing their infertility on to their sons. Anyone who was trying to conceive back in the mid-90's heard speculation then that ICSI can help couples conceive, but it can't guarantee that if there's a genetic defect causing the man's infertility that it won't be passed on to the child. And why wouldn't it?

So this study goes on to linking ICSI to shorter fingers in boys - a trait they say is known to be associated with infertility. The study compared 211 six-year-olds conceived through ICSI with 195 naturally conceived children of the same age. The boys in the ICSI group had shorter fingers. OK, now let's think about it. ICSI was most frequently used to overcome male infertility. There are other reasons for using ICSI, but that is the reason it was developed and, at least in the past, was its main use - if there were plenty of swimmers, it wasn't really necessary... Then there's this lovely quote from John Manning (and a nearly identical one by Allan Pacey), "This is telling us that we sould only use ICSI when it is absolutely necessary." Um. Maybe what it's really telling us is what we knew all along - genetics are inherited... It isn't the ICSI that's causing the infertility in the next generation, it's the genes the child inherited...

A question to anyone who would contemplate using ICSI on this basis - why, if ICSI can produce a healthy (yet, possibly infertile) child today would you think that in another 25 years or so, when this child wants to become a father, that medical science would not have improved this process and made it even easier to become a father?

Do you love someone who is infertile?

2010-01-31T03:13:00.001-08:00

If you do, Shari DeGraff Stewart and Julia Fichtner Krahm from the Stewart Institute have written an informative & helpful magazine-style book by that name, which provides insight into what infertility is really like for people who are experiencing it. When Julia first wrote me, I surfed on over to their site and thought, “I can’t wait to read this”. It’s a resource for which there is a real need – parents, friends, siblings & even husbands don’t always know what to do when they know someone who is going through infertility. Aware of this need, I asked my mom to cooperate with me and we co-wrote a page for parents on FertilityStories.

Do you Love someone who is Infertile ($12.95, currently available only in the US) presents real experiences, alongside practical advice for husbands, parents, siblings and friends. In addition, the design is fabulous – using photos, typography, layout, and graphical elements to make the book incredibly appealing. I picked up the book and my first thought was, “I love this!” – and reading it made me happy to see that people were writing the things that I’d felt, from both sides. You can see sample pages of the book here – and you can order the guidebook here.

Want a chance to get my review copy? Leave a comment on this blog post. Want another chance? Tweet about it & let me know. Want a third chance? Write a blog post or even just send people to this one. Good luck!

Drawing will be on Feb 11, 2010.

Yes, I really do wonder

2010-01-25T12:44:00.001-08:00

I do. I wonder why I have a blog if I don't have time to update it.

There were two things I wanted to share from recent news in Israel.

Today, it was announced that from now on it will be illegal to fire any person undergoing fertility treatments both during the treatment and within 150 days of the time they began. I couldn't find the article in English, but the google translation does an almost tolerable job...

The other was that Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital announced that they are now able to provide fertility treatments to HIV positive men, removing the virus from the sperm and using ICSI to create healthy embryos. Apparently this treatment is already available in the US.

I'm busy doing a huge user interface project and completing a course in survey methodology - and going to sleep way too late every night (and waking up way too early every morning).

Single-joint motherhood by choice

2010-01-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

Someone I know of is currently in her 2 week wait. She's very near 40 and has spent the past many years building her career, but hasn't found Mr. Right. So about two years ago, she decided she was going to have a baby whether she got married or not (with it being fairly obvious that she wouldn't)... and after contemplating her options, she decided that she would like to find a homosexual couple who wanted to have a baby, so that her baby wouldn't grow up without knowing his/her biological father. After asking her friends and talking to a lot of people, someone suggested a couple. They hit it off & spent the next many months working out all of the details with a lawyer. I know very few of the details, but do know that she will have full custody for the first two years - and that after that, they will share custody.

I can't stop thinking how complicated this is - maybe even more than a divorce, in which (in Israel, at least) usually one parent has custody and can therefore move away. With joint custody, they've got to stay where they are. And they've got to agree on all sorts of things that are really hard to agree on... on the other hand, they'll each have a few free days a week. And every other weekend. And two sides to pay the expenses... I also wonder what happens if she does find a partner. How will that fit into the picture?

What are your thoughts?

And the winner is...

2009-11-29T23:52:00.000-08:00

InfertileNaomi from 999 reasons to laugh at infertility.

What did she win? A copy of Theresa Miller's book - Making Babies, Personal IVF Stories.

And now for take 2 of another book giveaway - Unsung Lullabies.

Leave a comment on this post by December 12 for your chance to win it. Winner will be announced on or around December 14th.

Good luck!

Off topic - Homeschooling - Science Fair

2009-11-23T22:26:00.000-08:00

My absolutely amazing friend, Shez, homeschools her twins. They do the most incredible things - she's got her kids (who are obviously fantastic kids) doing very impressive activities, one of which is participating in a science fair. Go over and read Shez's blog - Homeschooled twins - if you've got an interest in homeschooling!

Here are some of the sponsors of the GUESS Homeschool Science Fair and the young scientists of Hampton Roads!

Green Olive Tree is an internet company based in Portsmouth, Virginia and owned and operated by a homeschooling family. They offer a broad range of internet services, from reliable web hosting to corporate infrastructure solutions and server administration.

SKS Science supplies homeschoolers and other educators with all the science supplies you need to turn your dining room table into a proper laboratory. Browse their site for test tubes, bottles, face masks and other lab supplies and books.

Book Exchange is the largest used bookstore in Eastern Virginia. Unlike most musty and confusing used stores, this one is clean, bright, inviting, and has a huge selection of used homeschool books. There's always an interesting curriculum find on these shelves!

Folkmanis Puppets makes the most delightful animal puppets available outside Santa's workshop. Meet their most unusual creations like llamas, Chinese dragons, ostriches, flying squirrels. Unusual materials create realistic textures, and they all move in very realistic ways. Irresistible.

The Happy Scientist, Robert Krampf, hosts an online wonderland for budding scientists. With online science lessons, experiments to try at home, a science photo of the day, and new content added all the time, you'll love setting your kids loose on this site.

Mad Science is Hampton Roads' premier provider of science enrichment classes for children. Summer classes include "Crazy Chemistry" and a space camp developed with NASA! New homeschool science classes are being offered in Norfolk and VA Beach, with more planned for fall.

Moore Expressions is a homeschool bookstore in Virginia Beach, VA. They sell used and new homeschooling curriculum, host a support group, and publish a newsletter called the Bayith Educator. They are the premier source for homeschooling books in the Hampton Roads area.

Norfolk Karate Academy offers classes in Tang Soo Do (Korean karate) and Gracie Jiu Jitsu (Brazilian grappling and self-defense). With classes for children, teens, and adults, it's a great way for anyone to get in shape and kick things in a socially acceptable way!

Brooks Systems offers standalone software and web applications that check legal compliance in all municipalities in all fifty states, and create truth-in-lending documents for residential lenders. Using Brooks for your automated mortgage compliance, you can be sure your loans are safe.

eScienceLabs creates boxes of joy for science loving homeschoolers. In each kit is a complete science experience -- from individual lessons to full years of high school labs. Hands-on science kits are the answer to your laboratory woes. Everything is in there: test tubes, goggles, and fun.

Mariner's Museum has amazing programs for homeschoolers learning about maritime science, history, and even pirates! Their spring homeschool series features lessons about the Civil War. Visit Mariner's Museum for historical exhibits and educational programming.

Virginia Air and Space Center was host to the homeschool science fair this year, and delivered awesome science classes for homeschoolers from their education department. The VASC is the educator resource center for the NASA Langley Research Center.

Free IVF Cycle & Book Giveaway

2009-11-15T22:32:00.000-08:00

It turns out that there are clinics that give away free IVF cycles. Apparently HRC Fertility offered 20 such cycles - each couple had to write an essay of up to 500 words, stating their reasons for wanting to have a child.

Here's one of the stories of a couple who won a free cycle - http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_13794655.

Want to read more stories? Sign up below for a chance to win a copy of Making Babies: Personal IVF Stories by Theresa Miller. Ms. Miller interviewed people involved in 14 stories of IVF on their way to try to become parents (some were successful, some not). One of the stories discussed "sensing" an unborn baby's thoughts and wishes, which I couldn't get in touch with. Another discussed the decision to stop treatment - an important topic I believe far too few people have written about. Overall, the book was interesting and provided plenty of opportunities to shed tears (mostly joyous ones). Leave a comment below by November 26 for your chance to win it! Tweet this post for another chance (and let me know in the comment that you have).

Coming up soon on FertilityStories Blog:

A giveaway for a shopping cart cover from CNS
An excerpt from The Stewart Institute's book, "Do You Love Someone Who is Infertile?" - a guide for a spouse, sibling, parent or friend. (They actually sent me a copy it looks fabulous!)

Womb transplants - getting closer?

2009-10-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

I just read this article on the BBC News site. They report that British Doctors claim to be closer than ever to being able to transplant a womb, so that a woman could conceive (with the help of IVF), carry one or more pregnancies, deliver by c-section and then have the womb removed. The article raises a number of questions that I found both interesting and relevant.

What are your thoughts?

In the news...

2009-10-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed this article by Pamela Tsigdinos -Fertility Industry: Boon and Curse. She wrote it as a response to the article the New York Times ran on Sunday - "The Gift of Life, and Its Price" that I didn't find particularly interesting, but I have heard it drew a lot of comments that people going through infertility found offensive (I do my best to avoid reading them - I have enough stress in my life.)

Monday's New York Times ran an article about multiples & selective reduction that, once again, caused me to think that unmonitored IUI should be a crime (although one of the cases they talk about was monitored and still ended up with high order multiples).

If things are going to change, it should be based on the research that's been done on e-SET - elective single embryo transfer. Having read many journal articles about it and its advantages (I was planning to write a seminar paper about it, but came up with some ethical issues that got in the way), it's clear that guidelines could be written to avoid unnecessary premature births and pregnancies with high-order-multiples that endanger the mother.

The New York Times also has an online presentation about e-SET.

Laptops & reduced spermatogenesis

2009-10-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

An article that came up in my news page today quoted Dr. Suzanne Kavic, director of the division of reproductive endocrinology at Loyola University Health System as saying that "...the heat generated from laptops can impact sperm production and development making it difficult to conceive down the road."

Since they didn't quote any research that backed that, I went to check it out. I found this abstract from Human Reproduction where Yefim Sheynkin, Michael Jung, Peter Yoo, David Schulsinger and Eugene Komaroff tested men for scrotal hyperthermia when working on laptops.

They tested 29 volunteers and found that indeed the use of laptops raised the temperature between 2.6-2.8 degrees celsius. Based on the abstract, "scrotal hyperthermia has been identified as a risk factor for male infertility" - so they've shown that laptop computers cause scrotal hyperthermia and since that's a known risk factor for male infertility, it definitely sounds like something even young boys should be made aware of.

I see there are already patent applications and products to help solve this problem.

Cervical Cancer Vaccine Scare

2009-10-03T12:20:00.001-07:00

As I was checking the links on my links page, to make sure there weren't any dead ones, I came across this story...

It started like this: Last week, on Sept 28, 2009 , Natalie Morton, a British 14-year-old girl died suddenly, just over an hour after having been given Cervarix, a vaccine against HPV (human papilloma virus) produced by GlaxoSmithKline (see video). 9 other girls reported feeling mildly ill. So GSK quickly recalled all the unused doses in the batch, while an autopsy and investigation began.

Obviously some chose to make the immediate link between the vaccine and her death. But then the autopsy showed that Natalie Morton, in fact, had a large malignant tumor in her heart and lungs. (Though this article claims the autopsy is just a cover-up.)

And then there's the question asked by Deborah Kotz (follow-up post) as to whether if a vaccine did indeed cause a single injury or death - does that deem it unsafe (DK's original post)? (Read the comments too, if you want to be really confused.) It makes sense to me that a vaccine would have to do more good than harm - if we consider 1.4 million girls who were vaccinated, how many of them were likely to die or suffer due to cervical cancer (if they had not been vaccinated)? I'm glad that it seems that Natalie's death was not caused by the vaccine - and I hope that somehow people will get the information needed to make the best decision for their daughters - and not be swayed by a single, terrible coincidence that linked the vaccine with death.

Truly evil - prank pregnancy test

2009-10-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

This should be taken off of eBay...

Mistakes that should never happen

2009-09-27T05:36:00.000-07:00

It should never have happened that doctors transferred the wrong embryos to Carolyn Savage. I feel terrible for her and for her family and some people may think that Paul and Shannon Morell got a good deal - no pregnancy, healthy baby - but I feel terrible for them too. They missed out on experiencing a pregnancy, on being there and able to feel his first kicks and I bet they've also got some guilt about taking the baby (who is biologically theirs) from Sean and Carolyn Savage - even though the mistake wasn't theirs. I have a lot of respect for Sean & Carolyn who decided to continue the pregnancy - I can think of all the reasons why they "had" to, but I can think of a lot of reasons why they might not want to too. I hope the two families will be able to form some kind of relationship that will give both a sense of peace about what happened.

Dr. Grumbles posted an article about Ochsner Hospital (in New Orleans) that was shut down due to "mishandling of frozen embryos". Some of the embryos are mislabeled or missing. Missing I've heard of before - inexcusable and horrible, but not nearly as scary as mislabeled. I can't imagine the 100 families (or so) who are dealing with this news. When I was going through IVF it occurred to me that there could be a mix up, but then I thought, "I'm putting crazy ideas into my head. That's exactly what these people do - keep the embryos labeled correctly so there are no mistakes - and they know how important it is." One would hope...

These recent events make it even more understandable why some people would choose to have the entire process supervised. For many years, orthodox Jews (particularly ultra-orthodox) have had specially-trained supervisors who watch the process from start to finish, making sure there are no mix-ups. This article discusses the cooperation formed between The Jewish Community Council of Montreal (Vaad Ha’ir) and the McGill Reproductive Centre, located at the Royal Victoria Hospital - they've launched a program that strictly adheres to halachah (Jewish Law) while offering the latest technology, including in vitro fertilization (IVF). I bet more and more people, not only Jews, are going to be interested in this type of supervised IVF in the near future.

Book Excerpt - Making Babies by Theresa Miller

2009-09-14T00:25:00.000-07:00

From the introduction to Theresa Miller's book - Making Babies - a book about IVF Experiences*

"I was conceived accidentally by a couple of teenagers in the back seat of a 1960s pink Ford Zephyr at the drive-in movies in Adelaide. I don't know what was playing that night, but it obviously didn't capture my parents' attention. Four months later, my Catholic grandparents marched their disgraced children down the aisle...

Except for my grinning father wearing a tight borrowed suit, my 18-year-old mother and the rest of the family looked grim faced in the wedding photos. My parents went on to have my little sister three years later. Their marriage lasted 15 years, which is not a bad track record for a shotgun wedding.

And so it was, that my mother warned me not to make the same mistakes she’d made. “Don’t get married young, see the world, go to university, have a career, have lots of boyfriends before you settle down and most importantly, don’t get pregnant accidentally!”

Dutifully, I followed my mother’s instructions. I went to university and studied journalism, landed a job as a TV reporter, worked in London and Europe for six years, lived with my violinist boyfriend in Switzerland and traveled the world.

When I met my husband-to-be, Stuart Ziegler, in Sydney, I was 31 and ready to settle down. Within a few months, I fell pregnant accidentally. I was excited but Stuart wasn’t so thrilled. Our relationship was still new and he was worried about how he’d support us. My mother’s words were ringing in my head, “Don’t ever make a man marry you because you’re pregnant.” So with a heavy heart, I had a termination. A decision, we both came to deeply regret.

Six months later Stuart and I were married. I threw my contraceptive pill away and we tried in earnest to start a family. Nothing happened after the first year. I wasn’t too worried. I was working as a TV reporter and traveling often. It was probably just bad timing, I told myself. After the second year, I began to worry I’d damaged my fallopian tubes somehow with the termination. Tests revealed everything was fine.

By the third year, the strain was taking its toll on our marriage and I blamed Stuart for ‘making me have an abortion.’ We began to argue more than we were having sex. By the fourth year, family and friends stopped asking about the ‘pitter patter of little feet.’ When I heard about friends falling pregnant easily I’d smile and congratulate them and go home and cry.

I started to investigate IVF but the only books I found were technical manuals and a devastating memoir by a woman who tried unsuccessfully for years and suffered terrible side effects from the drugs.

At first, I stubbornly rejected IVF, saying, “We’ve conceived once naturally, we can do it again!” Instead we spent a fortune on acupuncture, naturopaths, Chinese herbalists, spiritual healers and ayurvedic medicine. By now, my sense of humour was drying up and according to my doctor, so were my eggs.

Around the time of my 37th birthday I met a woman at a party who told me she’d just had twins using IVF. When I told her my age, and that we’d been trying to conceive for five years, she said, “For God’s sake woman, get yourself down to the Baby Factory and get on the IVF program. You’ve got no time to lose!”

So that’s exactly what we did. After talking to the nurses at Sydney IVF, I threw down my visa card and said, “Book us in.” At last I felt like we were doing something proactive. Every morning Stuart would inject me in the bottom and except for one jab, which made me feel like my legs were crawling with ants, I didn’t have any adverse reactions to the drugs.

I didn’t tell anyone at work what we were doing, but every morning I felt buoyed by my secret when I logged on to my computer with the password “Zoë Ziegler.”

Harvest or egg pick-up day was the first anniversary of September 11. As I placed my legs in stirrups and winced while the doctor extracted eggs from my pumped up ovaries with a long needle, I wondered what sort of world I would be bringing a child into. But the human instinct to procreate seems to override logic, good sense and even fear.

My pride at producing the grand total of nineteen eggs as if I was a prize-winning chook was dashed the next day when only three fertilised. I couldn’t help wondering whether my crusty old eggs were to blame or my husband’s lazy sperm.

At Sydney IVF, they grow the fertilised egg for five days until it’s a multi-celled blastocyst, before transferring it into the mother’s womb. It seemed surreal, that while we were at work or out to dinner, our ‘offspring’ were growing in a petri dish in the city.

Every day Stuart would ring the lab to see how ‘the little guys’ were doing. In the meantime, I tried to convince Stuart we should have two embryos, rather than one, transferred to increase my chances, even though our doctor had warned us we could end up with twins. I left a letter on Stuart’s desk headlined: ‘Ten Reasons Why We Should Have Twins’ followed by bullet points. Stuart still laughs about it today and wished he’d kept that paper to remind me whenever I complain what a handful one child is.

As it turned out we didn’t have the twin option. According to the lab, one blastocyst was way out in front as an ‘A’ grade specimen, which meant the cells were dividing rapidly while the other two were growing more slowly. They recommend transferring the good one and freezing the other two as back up. As it turned out, the slower blastocysts stopped dividing and simply disintegrated before they even got to the freezer. I was devastated. The doctor tried to reassure me. “It’s not every day I get to transfer such a good looking blastocyst,” he said.

I’ll never forget looking down the microscope at what we nicknamed, the ‘blasting blastocyst’ that was to become Zoë Ziegler. After the doctor had transferred the fertilised egg into my uterus, I asked him if I should go home and put my legs up, so it wouldn’t fall out. He laughed, “There are women out there who have no idea they have a five-day-old embryo growing inside them and they’re drinking champagne and dancing all night. Now it’s simply up to that embryo whether if wants to become a baby or not.”

Somehow, I found that strangely reassuring. For all its incredible technology, IVF still has to leave room for the magic and mystery of creation.

Zoë is Greek for ‘life’. As I look at my beautiful, bright and bubbly three-year-old daughter, I don’t just marvel at the wonder of IVF; I marvel at the wonder of her and all children.

Why does new life sometimes spring unbidden from a once-off romp in the back of a car and other times refuse to blossom despite years of yearning? My newfound awe sent me on a quest to interview other people who’d also experienced IVF. I sought both men’s and women’s personal stories. As it turned out, it was mostly women who responded. I was touched by their open hearted and candid stories. Together we sat in their kitchens or on their sofas and laughed and wept at their journeys.

Not all the stories in this book have happy endings like mine. Some have given up IVF after years of trying without success; others are still on the treadmill.

After countless miscarriages, one woman finally gave birth to a baby, which tragically died weeks later from a rare congenital disease. Another couple gave birth to twins after a friend donated her eggs, while a mother of three impulsively donated her eggs to a stranger.

Women also tell of enduring personal tragedies in their quest for a child; while one woman mourned her brother’s suicide, another was dumped by her partner in the middle of her IVF cycle. Neither gave up their dreams of becoming mothers.

I also spoke to a remarkable young woman who was the product of one of the earliest IVF programs. At school she was teased and called a ‘test tube baby’, now she’s an ambassador for an infertility network.

Assisted reproductive technology has also made it possible for gays and singles to be parents too. A gay male couple and a single woman in her forties share their stories of baby hunger.

All these memoirs are very different. All display courage, determination, vulnerability, love and proof that the desire for a baby is bigger than us all.

P.S. As I wrote this introduction, my pregnant belly pressed against the desk. After Zoë turned three, we decided not to do IVF again and be content with one child. I gave away the high chair, the pram and my maternity clothes. A month later my hands shook as I held the pregnancy test and looked at the two red lines showing a positive result. Our second daughter, Sienna - the homegrown type, was born in January 2007.

See: www.MakingBabiesIVF.com

*reprinted here with permission from the author

Life after infertility treatments

2009-09-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

There's a great article in Thursday's New York Times - Shelagh Little writes about making the decision to stop fertility treatments and live without children.

Mushrooms anyone?

2009-09-03T10:00:00.001-07:00

OK, I realize this is off-topic, but Ohad spotted this in our garden today, growing in the pot with the basil and we have no clue what kind of mushroom it is. Any ideas?

And, if I’m already off topic, I welcome you to visit my new blog – http://www.internationalshippingshops.blogspot.com – a listing of online shops that have items for decent prices AND ship worldwide. If you have any ideas for that, feel free to pass them on.

PCOS, Acupuncture, Surrogacy & Donor Gamete Babies

2009-08-23T12:50:00.001-07:00

In this article published by NewsMax (which my dad sent me), they discuss a recent study performed by Elisabet Stener Victorin at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. In it, they studied women diagnosed as having polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

During the study, one group of women with polycystic ovary syndrome received acupuncture regularly for four months. They received a type of acupuncture known as “electro acupuncture”, in which the needles are stimulated with a weak low frequency electric current, similar to that developed during muscular work. A second group of women were provided with heart rate monitors and instructed to exercise at least three times a week. A control group was informed about the importance of exercise and a healthy diet, but was given no other specific instructions.

The results showed more normal menstruation and significantly lower testosterone levels in the group who received acupuncture.

My mom sent me this article (yeah, sounds like I no longer have to do any of my own research) about children born via surrogacy, egg donation and sperm donation. Polly Casey from the Centre for Family Research at Britain's Cambridge University studied nearly 200 families – 128 with children born using assisted reproduction of one of the types mentioned above and 70 conceived without ART. She found that “the family types did not differ in the overall quality of the relationship between mothers and their children and fathers and their children”.

The article also discusses parents’ intentions as to revealing donor and surrogacy issues to their children and what they actually chose to do by the time the children were seven years old.

Infertility Jewelry

2009-08-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

I recently came across LifeMedals, which was established by a woman who went through many years of infertility and many, many cycles of treatment. Her story is fascinating and I find that I really admire what she’s chosen to do with it – to create jewelry that reflects qualities necessary to get through really difficult times. The fertility hope medal (on the right) is one that I think so many women would love to have… I know I would. It also seems like a great gift for parents to give a daughter or daughter-in-law who is still trying to conceive.

Do you have a piece of jewelry that you connect with your infertility?

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I’m not affiliated with LifeMedals.com and do not receive commissions or any benefit whatsoever for purchases of jewelry.

Infertility & Lack of Sleep

2009-08-17T10:30:00.001-07:00

What's the connection, if any, you ask? I just read this article by Michael J. Breus about a possible link between lack of sleep and impaired fertility. He mentions these points:

Sleep's effect on the body's hormonal system - implying that a lack of sleep could hinder regular ovulation.
Sleep deprivation's effect on leptin levels, which can also have an impact on ovulation.
Insomniacs' higher levels of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic, both of which can suppress healthy cycles.

He quotes this article by Toni Parker that discusses research performed in Boston on women athletes who were given leptin to help resume their menstrual cycles and restore ovarian function. (There's a movie clip and several tips on how to sleep better there too.)

And while I find all of these studies interesting - and their advice good to follow, just for general good health - I think it's still important to say that a lot of cases of infertility can't be solved simply by getting a better night's sleep - on the other hand, you really have nothing to lose...

Infertility in China

2009-08-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

CNN ran an article yesterday about infertility in China. When I think about China and babies, my first thought is how awful it must be to be limited to just one baby and how sad it is that some parents feel that having a daughter is some sort of failure… Even with my being so aware of infertility, China wasn’t one of the places I thought about. (Although I have thought about China for a lot of other reasons, including my parents’ multiple trips there – see http://drsavta.com/travelkosher/ for amazing pictures and fascinating information, especially if you keep kosher and are interested in having the best tour guide ever… BTW, they’re going to Vietnam & Cambodia too.) Anyway, I found the article both interesting and surprising… and I’m happy for the couple featured in the article that they ended up having not one but two healthy babies :-)

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I updated my post about tooth gemination and added new pictures.

More Key & Lock info

2009-08-06T01:13:00.001-07:00

I'm discovering that there's a nice community of infertility twitterers. I'm planning to create a directory (sign up in the comments of this post), but so far there haven't been too many sign-ups (1, if I recall correctly). So... I was going through Machon Puah's tweets and found a better article than the one I recently posted - The secret life of sperm is unlocked.

I'm still skeptical of people's willingness to accept results of such a test, if and when it finally exists.

Egg & Sperm - Lock & Key?

2009-08-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

I finally opened a twitter account for Fertility Stories (feel free to follow me - http://twitter.com/fertilitystorie) and someone sent me a message asking me if I'd seen this article.

The article mentions Dr. Martin Brinkworth, Dr. David Miller at the University of Leeds and Dr. David Iles (but doesn't mention where -if anywhere- results of the study are being published). It summarizes their findings:

The study researchers have found out a mechanism called lock-and-key mechanism by which reproduction takes place.
In living organisms, sperm and egg cells unite in a distinct way. The sperm cells have keys (genetic signals or codes) and the eggs have locks (genetic signals or codes) and only the most suitable key signal can fit into the lock of an egg.

OK. Sounds interesting, but how does this help, I asked myself... Later in the article comes their explanation:

The scientists could use the newer understanding to develop some test to screen infertile man. This would cut down the failure rate of IVF by 75 percent as filtering out male candidates who can never produce children would become possible.

To this, all I can say is, "Yeah, right". Who's going to take a sperm sample that looks fairly normal and then run it by a lab that stamps a big "FAIL" on the results and decide, "oh, OK, so I'll just never have a biological child"? And what happens if the woman, even just once, got pregnant naturally and, even if it ended in miscarriage, are they really going to accept that his sperm isn't able to fertilize her ova? I just don't believe that a lab test, without ever actually going through the process of IVF is going to convince the average couple...

Now, if these guys could find a way to fix the 'key' mechanism, I'd be the first to say they were on to something...

Volunteer for Israel - Yes. This commercial, no.

2009-07-31T03:23:00.000-07:00

Today's Ha'aretz ran a story on an Israeli campaign to encourage volunteering in Israel. It's point is supposed to be that there are a variety of plans available for developing careers, volunteering or studying in Israel (not sure which, I didn't check it out). Ohad pointed the article out to me since the headline was "Rachel Disrobes" and he thought that was pretty funny... and since it starts with an ad that says "Surrogate Mother Available", I had to see it. Here it is:

**was - it was removed from YouTube

So I watched it and watched it again. The article says it shows a good sense of humor and that people like it. First of all, only a little over 6000 people have watched it. Not very successful for a YouTube video. Second, of the 3 people they asked about it, two said they didn't like it.

If I understand correctly, the story is that Rachel hit hard economic times, so she decided to become a surrogate mother, whereas really, she should have just come to Israel. The connection's a little difficult for me. And, being pro-surrogacy (actually, unrelated, I recently discovered that someone I'm in daily contact with had a child through surrogacy after having life-threatening medical issues that prevented her from having another child) it disturbs me that surrogacy is being presented as being such a terrible choice. It almost looks like they wanted to use prostitution, but just took a step back & presented surrogacy in the same light.

Desperation...

2009-07-27T03:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a story I received recently from a woman named Jolly, in Uganda. I wonder if anyone can offer her ideas on where to seek help.

I am not sure whether you only receive success stories. I am not yet successful but I would like to share my burden of childlessness. I have been married for ten years. We wanted to have children as soon as possible, so we did not try any family planning method. I became pregnant in the second month after wedding. I immediately developed problems and the doctors found out that I had fibroids. At 5 months I lost the baby. I was then put on many treatments but finally I was operated on to remove the fibroids. I then had 2 more miscarriages. After which I could not conceive anymore.
Scan results revealed that adhesions blocked the tubes. I went for another operation on the tubes still I could not get pregnant. I have since tried IVF twice and failed. I have spent all my savings on trying to have children in vain. I was thinking of trying having a surrogate mother. In Uganda it is socially not acceptable but I would like to go against the odds. The major problem now is money. I have a four year loan that i am paying off because of the last procedures. I do not know what else to do. Could there be a support centre somewhere that can help frustrated parents like us? We would be most grateful.

Getting here...

2009-07-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

Just like most people, I watch my site stats (I use statcounter) and there are a few trends that I've noticed:

That Rotten Two Week Wait is the most popular post (by far)
IVM - In Vitro Maturation is drawing a great deal of interest - especially when covered by the media.

The third most popular topic is, surprisingly about donating sperm within the family or to friends. Queries (all from the last 2 or 3 days) include:

best friend wife donate sperm
brother bil sperm donor
legalities of donating sperm to our friend
lesbian couple brother's sperm
asking a friend to donate sperm
brother in law wants my husband's sperm

The post itself has a nice discussion going on in the comments. It's obviously a very complicated subject and its good that people who are considering it are reading up on it first.

Another post that's a little farther down is "Low, non-doubling betas suck". Now, this is especially sad for me, because I was there and it was so bad that I hate for anyone else to have to go through it. That said, I have heard of success stories with both low and with non-doubling betas (though none that I remember that had both).

If you got here through a search, let me know what information you were looking for & I'm pretty sure I can help you find it.

On another note entirely, Pamela Tsigdinos, author of Silent Sorority, posted her story on Fertility Stories. Go over and read it and consider buying her book too. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I have read many other things she's written and her writing is fantastic.