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Today on MSNBC.com there were two very interesting and informative articles regarding infertility, fertility treatments, the pressure to get pregnant, and how different people deal with it. The articles were written by two women currently going through fertility treatments. Their perspectives are very different, although at this point the outcomes of their treatments are the same, no baby.
The first article, Not Giving up Hope for a Biological Baby tells the story of a 42 year old single woman who has been trying for four years now to conceive with no success. she hasn’t given up hope yet and plans on trying at least one more treatment in hopes that it will finally work out for her.
“Once you’re on the fertility hamster wheel, in pursuit of the dream shared by most of the human race — to be a parent to your biological child — there’s no one who can tell you it’s time to get off of it.”
The other article, Getting Off the Infertility-treatment Treadmill, was also written by a woman who has been trying for quite sometime to conceive a child, again with no success. She and her husband agreed before they got started that they would only go so far. They have decided to stop trying to conceive a child of their own and are now working on adoption.
“I realized that in all my feelings of loss and loneliness, I’d forgotten the most important thing: I wanted to be a mother more than I wanted to give birth”
Infertility is a very difficult ordeal that unfortunately all to many couples have to suffer through. How you approach it, what you are willing to give, financially and emotionally, and what perspective you have when you are well down the fertility-treatment road will very much depend on you. Each person is different and each story is different. As you can tell from these two articles the outcome can be the same but how it feels to you will be very different. I encourage you to read these articles, particularly if you too are struggling through fertility treatments.
Your window of opportunity to get pregnant in any given month is fairly small. A fertile woman has a 20 percent chance of conceiving during a cycle. Luckily, 85 percent of healthy, fertile couples will conceive within 1 year of trying.
Conception can only occur during a small window during your cycle. Your egg will live for 24 hours after ovulation so fertilization must occur within that 24 hours. Sperm can live inside a woman for 2-3 days so that helps increase the odds a little. The trick is determining when ovulation has occurred so you can plan your schedule around it. There are a few different ways in which you can try to predict ovulation.
Keeping track of your cycle: If you cycle is fairly regular you can try to predict when ovulation will occur. For a normal cycle that is 28 days long ovulation will typically occur on the 14th day of your cycle (that would be 14 days from the start of your last period), so by counting forward from the first day of your cycle you can predict about what day you will ovulate. This method of course is no help at all if your cycle is irregular.
Basal Body Temperature: When ovulation has occurred your basal body temperature will rise, it is a pretty small increase in temperature, only about 1/2 a degree to a degree. You can help predict when ovulation will occur by keeping track of your basal body temperature for several months to identify a trend. You will need to take your temperature first thing in the morning every day and chart your temperature. Over several months you will begin to see a trend that will be able to help you predict when ovulation typically occurs in your cycle. This method will require a little more commitment and time.
Ovulation Predictor Kits: Ovulation predictor kits are now available that women can use to determine if ovulation is about to occur. The way these kits work is a woman urinates on the stick and the stick will change color when you are about to ovulate. These kits measure the luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in your urine which rise the day before ovulation occurs. The kits can be expensive, ranging in price from about $20-$50, so you might not want to rely on this every month.
Some lucky women will notice physical signs that ovulation has occurred such as cramping. For most women, however, there are no physical signs and ovulation remains a mystery. When you are trying to get pregnant it can be a bit frustrating, but remember the odds are in your favor. Talk to your doctor for some additional pointers on trying to predict ovulation. If after 12 months of trying you still have not been able to conceive consult your doctor to determine if there is some underlying fertility problem.
Best of luck to everyone trying to get pregnant, I know it can be a bit nerve wracking and a little stressful as you wait to see if you conceived.
(Source: BabyCenter)
Some people will go to any lengths!!
I recently came across a story about a new technique being used in Japan to notify a woman that she is fertile.
According to the article there is a cell phone available in Japan that is designed to ring or send a text message to let a woman trying to get pregnant know that she is at her most fertile. The user can enter data into the phone about her menstrual cycle and then program the phone to alert her three days before ovulation and again on the actual day of ovulation. It sounds a little out there doesn’t it?
For women who are having a hard time getting pregnant this might just be a perfect solution. Timing your ovulation and figuring out when you are most fertile can be a bit of challenge, why not have your cell phone help out a little?
In Japan the birth rate is pretty low. On average a woman will bear only 1.25 children in her lifetime. This is an all time low for the birth rate in Japan, and is one of the lowest in the world. Maybe this new cell phone will help bring their birth rate up a little.
Most doctors will tell you that you have nothing to worry about if you have been trying to get pregnant for less than a year and are not pregnant yet (this changes to 6 months if you are over 35). If, however, you have had plenty of unprotected sex for more than a year and you are not pregnant yet there may be cause for concern. Research indicates that about 1 in 10 couples have trouble getting pregnant.
There are many things that are considered risk factors of fertility for both men and women.
For women the risk factors fertility problems include:
- Endometriosis
- Uterine fibroids
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Blocked fallopian tube, either from a prior infection or surgery
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Painful or irregular periods
- Excessive facial or body hair
- Pelvic or abdominal surgery
- Chronic disease such diabetes, cancer, or thyroid disease
- You are a smoker
- You are more than 25 percent under or overweight
For men the risk factors include:
- Infection with the mumps virus after puberty
- Chronic illness such as diabetes, cancer, or thyroid disease
- Undescended testicles
- Testicular tumor, cyst, or cancer
- You take medications that include steroids
- You smoke
- You use a hot tub or sauna on a regular basis
- You go on frequent, long bike rides
If you suspect there is a problem, no matter how long you have been trying to get pregnant the best thing to do is to talk with your doctor. Your doctor should be able to answer any questions or concerns you have, and if a problem is suspected you can be sent in for tests that will better be able to determine if there is a problem, what it is, and what can be done about it.
Most couples who have trouble conceiving will go on to have children of their own, sometimes after medical intervention. Some couples are not able to conceive, for those couples adoption is a great alternative.
I came across this interesting article the other day about how our bodies maybe giving us subtle hints that we are ovulating and at our most fertile.
Ovulation has always been a bit of a mystery. Our body doesn’t give us any glaring signals that ovulation is occurring, but according to a new study released in the journal, Hormones and Behavior our bodies may just be sending us, and the world, subtle hints instead. According to the study women tend to wear prettier, more revealing clothing, and embellish their outfits with more jewelry when they are at their most fertile point in their cycle.
The researchers had college women come to the lab for testing. The women were not told what the testing was for, and were asked questions about other things like food to throw them off. Each time they arrived at the lab their urine was tested to determine fertility and they were photographed when they were at their most fertile and their least fertile. The photographs were then shown to a random group of people, both men and women, who were asked “In what photograph are they trying to look most attractive.”. 60 percent of the time the people chose the photographs that was taken when the woman was at her most fertile.
The results of this study indicate that although our bodies do not give us very obvious hints that we are fertile, like the changes in scent and skin color that some other animals experience, we are getting signals none the less. Of course, we may not notice we are changing our appearance in any way so it probably isn’t the best measure of fertility if you are trying to conceive (don’t throw away your fertility testing kits just yet), but I thought it was a pretty interesting study with pretty interesting results.