Archive for June, 2010
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
In an interview with People magazine, starlet Helena Bonham Carter spoke candidly about her journey to become a second-time mother.
Bonham Carter, who is over 40, began taking Clomid as part of a fertility treatment, but did not respond favorably to the medication. From there, she tried alternative medicine, but still had no success.
After beginning to investigate IVF, Bonham Carter became pregnant naturally. However, she’s been quick to note that she would have turned to at least one round of IVF had she not received the good news.
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Tags: Alternative Medicine, Clomid, Fertility Treatment, Helena Bonham Carter, Helena Carter, IVF, Journey, Medication, Medicine, Miracles, People Magazine, Pregnant, Second Time, Starlet, Time Mother
Posted in Hollywood and Stars | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
If you’re a woman who is either seriously overweight OR underweight, you may want to get your diet in check before moving forward with fertility treatments.
Weight plays a definite factor in how well a woman’s body will respond to all types of fertility treatments, from Clomid to IVF. So it’s important to prepare if you predict that fertility treatments will be in your future.
How can you make sure your weight is in line? BMI is often used by physicians as a measure of how appropriate your weight is based on your height. While it’s not always perfect (if you have a lot of muscle mass or are unusually short or tall, the results can be skewed), it’s a good starting point.
Another measure can be just how you look and feel. Most people in the obese and underweight categories are aware that their bodies are out of proportion from where they should be. In this case, a diet and exercise regimen may be warranted.
As with all lifestyle change programs, it’s a good idea to talk with your family doctor first. Explain to him or her that you’re going to be considering fertility treatments and that you want your weight to be in your favor, not against you. Then, you can proceed as he or she suggests.
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Tags: Bmi, Clomid, Diet And Exercise, Diet Exercise, Exercise Regimen, Family Doctor, Fertility Treatments, Good Starting Point, Lifestyle Change Programs, Lot, Miracles, Moving, Muscle Mass, Obese, People, Physicians, Plays, Proportion, Woman Body, Woman S Body
Posted in Weight Gain and Loss | No Comments »
Monday, June 28th, 2010
If you’re a woman in Ohio and you’ve just signed on with an employer, you might want to hesitate before starting IVF treatments. That’s because the Ohio Supreme Court ruled last week (in a 5-1 vote) that employers are within their rights to fire a relatively newly hired female who becomes pregnant.
Though many would sound the alarm that this ruling is discriminatory, the Court decided that it’s up to a company to figure out if maternity leave (or leave for pregnancy-related concerns) constitutes a firing.
From the Court’s point of view, if an employee is generally not allowed to take an extended leave of absence (as would occur with a pregnancy) until a certain time has passed (say, a year), then the pregnant employee could be terminated.
It’s a strange conundrum. On the one hand, the Court’s ruling could be seen as protecting the interests of employers. On the other hand, it gives women who want to become pregnant a reason to pause before seeking fertility treatments and medical attention for infertility lest they become jobless.
We’d love to know your thoughts on the matter… Both employees and employers are encouraged to chime in.
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Tags: Chime, Conundrum, Court Decided That, Fertility Treatments, Infertility, IVF treatments, Lead, Leave Of Absence, Love Thoughts, Maternity, Medical Attention, Miracles, Ohio Supreme Court, Point Of View, Pregnancy, Pregnant Employee, Reason, Supreme Court Rules, Vote, Woman
Posted in Employment, In the News | No Comments »
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
This just in from a CBS news article…
It would appear from some preliminary research performed by Australian scientists that, as might be suspected, infertilitymay be a factor that’s driven by couple-specific physical incompatibilities. Thus, a man may have fertility difficulties with one woman but not with others.
The crux of the problem appears to be in how the woman’s body reacts to the man’s sperm. If her body is accepting of his particular sperm, she’ll enable his sperm to fertilize her eggs. If her body isn’t accepting of his sperm make-up, natural conception will be more difficult.
This isn’t to suggest, of course, that any of this “denying or accepting” is happening on a conscious level. Neither men nor women can innately control the way their bodies respond. But it could lead to future fertility treatment options that, until now, haven’t been attempted.
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Tags: Australian Scientists, Cbs, Cbs News, Conscious Level, Crux, Driven, Eggs, Females, Fertility Treatment, Incompatibilities, Infertility, Miracles, Natural Conception, News Article, News Report, Preliminary Research, sperm, Treatment Options, Woman
Posted in In the News, Male Infertility | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 25th, 2010
From India comes word that a 66-year-old woman who was previously childless has given birth to triplets. Because of her advanced age, she used IVF treatments in order to reach her dream of becoming a mother.
Though there are well-wishers from around the world who send nothing but good thoughts her way, there are others who believe having a child (not to mention triplets) at 66 has serious ethical concerns. This is compounded by the fact that a 72-year-old who gave birth to her first child about a year-and-a-half ago at age 70 is now dying.
At RSI, we spend a great deal of time analyzing all aspects of any woman or couple’s physical, psychological and emotional states before proceeding with IVF treatments. In our experience, there is definitely a fine line between when fertility treatments are warranted and when the time has passed for such measures.
This is one of the reasons we encourage women and men dealing with infertility (or what they believe to be infertility) to connect with us sooner rather than later. We’ll give sound advice not dictated by intentions to get media attention… and we’ll always be straightforward with recommendations. It’s what we do as ethical physicians in the reproductive health science field.
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Tags: Becoming A Mother, Emotional States, Ethical Concerns, Fertility Treatments, Good Thoughts, Health Science, Infertility, IVF treatments, Measures, Media Attention, Miracles, Mom, Old Woman, Physicians, Reproductive Health, Science Field, Sound Advice, Triplets, Well Wishers, Women And Men
Posted in In the News | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
It’s an exciting time to be in the fertility field! Not only are there plenty of new procedures and tools available to couples and individuals dealing with infertility, but there’s also plenty to celebrate… including the 30th birthday of Australia’s first IVF baby!
Conceived with the help of IVF in 1980 (when IVF was still in its infancy around the world), Candice Reed is healthy, positive and looking forward to her fourth decade!
Though Reed has been reticent to give tons of interviews, she did prepare a statement that included the following:
“It’s just kind of like you’ve got blonde hair or you wear glasses and it was just a knowledge that that’s the way that it happened… The best thing about being an IVF baby is knowing that I was loved and wanted well before I was even conceived.”
Reed is now a strong advocate for IVF in Australia.
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Tags: 30th Birthday, Advocate, Australia, Blonde Hair, Candice Reed, Couples, Decade, Fertility, Glasses, Infancy, Infertility, Ivf Baby, Knowledge, Miracles, Rsi
Posted in In the News | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Straight from the University of Virginia comes a home test that might just make it easier for men with fertility concerns to gauge their sperm counts from the comfort of their own homes.
Called SpermCheck Fertility, the University of Virginia’s new technology has received FDA approval and should be available in pharmacies in late 2010.
SpermCheck Fertility requires only a few drops of semen in order to test sperm count and has been deemed to be relatively accurate overall.
This is an amazing breakthrough in helping males dealing with fertility issues, as it gives them a greater power. It will be interesting to see how it’s used over the next year or so…
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Tags: Add New Tag, Breakthrough, Fda, Fda Approval, Fertility Concerns, Fertility Issues, Home Test, Miracles, New Technology, Pharmacies, Semen, Sperm Counts, University Of Virginia
Posted in Male Infertility | No Comments »
Sunday, June 20th, 2010
“Of course HE can become a dad at any age! But for a woman, it’s different!”
How many times have we heard that phrase repeated by people who are discussing the whole parenting issue of males versus females? But it perpetuates a myth that male fertility is something that doesn’t change over time and isn’t a concern.
The truth of the matter is that between 30-40% of all fertility problems in couples is due to male infertility, not female infertility. It’s a fact that surprises a lot of men… and women.
The next time you hear someone talking about the notion that men are somehow immune to fertility issues, you might want to interject the aforementioned statistic. Hopefully, that will help educate people into realizing that fertility isn’t a one-gender concern.
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Tags: Couples, Dad, female infertility, Females, Fertility Issues, Fertility Problems, Infertility, Lot, Male Fertility, Male Infertility, Men And Women, Men Women, Miracles, Myth, Notion, Parenting Issue, Phrase, Statistic, Surprises, Truth Of The Matter
Posted in Male Infertility | No Comments »
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Testicular cancer can be overcome, but it can have serious side effects, including male infertility. That’s why a recent finding by British scientists studying testicular cancer is so exciting.
The scientists have been able to isolate three genetic risk factors (the genes are called TERT, ATF7IP and DMRT1) for testicular cancer, findings that they hope will someday lead to early prevention (and cure) of a disease that’s been known to rob men of their fertility.
Men between the ages of 15 and 45 are at the greatest risk for testicular cancer, which can be treated but often leaves the men with fertility problems. If genes can tell early who is most likely to have testicular cancer, it opens the door for ways to keep male fertility intact.
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Tags: British Scientists, Fertility Problems, Genes, Genetic Risk Factors, Infertility, Male Fertility, Male Infertility, Miracles, Prevention And Cure, Rsi, Testicular Cancer
Posted in Male Infertility | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
It’s a terrific use of technology — iPhone users can now monitor their fertility treatments.
Though not being used widely right now, Australian scientists plan to have couples (and/or patients) monitor their IVF treatmentsusing their iPhones and/or Blackberries. This will enable the Australian fertility specialists to help the patients make sure they are keeping up with their injections, scans, blood tests, etc.
The original trial of this program was tried by 17 persons undergoing fertility treatments and was met with positive feedback.
No doubt it will soon be used in the United States as well, though likely on a somewhat limited basis at first.
It gives even more credence to the notion that “there’s an app for that”!
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Tags: Australian Scientists, Blood Tests, Couples, Credence, Fertility Specialists, Fertility Treatments, Iphone, Iphones, IVF treatments, Met, Miracles, No Doubt, Notion, Positive Feedback, Rsi, United States
Posted in Technology | No Comments »
