New test Can Predict Fertility Decline

Unlike a lot of people who deal with infertility, I had a diagnosis and an expectation that things would go not so well long before I was remotely interested in having kids. I was diagnosed with PCOS at age 23 and my wonderful primary care doctor was fairly nonchalant about the fact that when I did want to get pregnant, a little Clomid would do the trick.

It didn’t. But at least I was able to tell my now-husband that getting pregnant might not be so easy once things started getting serious, so neither of us were especially surprised when things didn’t go so well. Many of my friends who also faced down infertility said they envied me that, that I was able to tell my partner long before we were formally committed and let him decide if he was up for the challenges we might face.

A new genetic test might give a new group of women that chance. Continue reading »

A Map Through Infertility

It’s a trying time for would-be parents, so wouldn’t it be nice to have a road map for the infertility process?

One that will hopefully lead you TO fertility?

Melissa Ford doesn’t promise she’ll get you pregnant, but her book Navigating the Land of If: Understanding Fertility and Exploring Your Options is one worth taking on the journey. Continue reading »

OctoMom 2? Woman on 12th Kid with IVF

An Australian woman who just gave birth to her eleventh and twelfth children - most with the help of fertility treatments - may be on track to become the next OctoMom.

Nadya Suleman made headlines first for having eight babies at once, but the outrage was over the six kids she ALREADY had at home. And much of that swirled around the doctors who allowed it happen.

So what’s the story with Dale Chalk? Continue reading »

The Inevitable Octomom Halloween Costume

Because you knew it had to happen.

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Mom Fakes Child Abduction to Go to Disney World

It sounded like a ripped-from-a-TV-movie nightmare. Bonnie Sweeten called 911 after her she and her daughter were carjacked and held hostage by a duo of black men. A manhunt ensued, searchers raced against time to rescue the 38-year-old Pennsylvania mom and her 9-year-old daughter.

The searchers would never find the two black men. They never existed. Neither did the carjacking. Meanwhile Sweeten and her daughter were riding It’s a Small World at Disney World. Continue reading »

IVF Overused By Impatient Doctors, Says Expert

Dr. Sami David, one of the first doctors to ever perform a successful IVF procedure in New York, spoke out this week about what he sees as the overuse of the procedure.

Continue reading »

Knowing When to Stop Running in the Fertility Marathon

Tom Teicholz has written a really compelling, four-part series on male infertility over at yourtango.com. Actually, it’s not just about male infertility. The narrative starts out that way, but more than anything, his story is about traveling the twisting, seemingly endless road of trying to conceive a child, and all the ovulation tests, frustrations, sperm count assessments, crushing disappointments and acupuncture sessions that come with the ride.

We all know that it isn’t easy to get pregnant, but these sorts of stories about fertility-challenged couples often leave me gasping at how exceedingly, unjustly difficult it can be for deserving people to become parents. Two things in particular that leaped out at me as I was reading Teicholz’s piece: the amount of money (more than $200,000!) and time (six years!) that he and his wife Amy spent trying to have a baby. Which raises the question: how do you know when you’ve hit the wall in the fertility marathon and just need to quit?

Continue reading »

One School, 19 Sets of Twins

They’re seeing double at Armstrong Elementary School in Garland, Texas. And double. And double.

The small Texas school has just five hundred thirty-nine students - and thirty-eight of them are twins. There are nine sets in the second grade alone. Continue reading »