Jul2006
Meeting Infertility Head-On
| Greetings,
Don't believe anyone who tells you that your fertility
concerns are all in your head.
There may be some important connections between
stress and reproductive health, but ignoring your
worries will not make them evaporate. In fact, coming
face to face with your fears goes hand in hand with
proactively meeting this life challenge.
|
Who, Me? Infertile?
It's certainly an experience that no one expects.
Having trouble getting pregnant feels just plain unfair.
Before you go off the deep end with self-pity, though,
consider this -- many conditions that hamper
conception are treatable. The reality is that medical
advances continue to emphasize that fertility should be
viewed on a continuum, not as an either-or situation.
Just because you haven't been able to get pregnant in
the time of your initial choice, that's no reason to label
yourself as "barren."
|
|
The Future is Here, And It's Good
While we share everyone's sentiment that getting
pregnant "the old fashioned way" is more enjoyable, the
truth for millions of parents-to-be is simply different.
It's very likely that in the not-so-distant future,
virtually everyone will seek access to some form of
assisted reproductive technology, even those without
fertility problems.
Why?
There are many reasons to see conceiving via ART as
beneficial and even preferable:
- Pregnancy can be more easily timed
to be convenient for a family's work schedules, financial
budgets, and other lifestyle issues.
- Gender selection can help to balance families and
prevent transmission of gender-specific genetic
conditions.
- The transmission of some heart-breaking genetic
conditions may eventually be eliminated entirely.
- Chances of pregnancy loss can be dramatically
decreased for some women.
|
|
You're On the Cutting Edge
No fertility specialist can guarantee that every patient
will achieve their first heart's
desire. Still, it's important for a patient's emotional well-
being and, maybe, their
treatment outcome to avoid thinking like a victim of
infertility. Remember that fertility
is not something that you either have or not. Babies
are the culmination of myriad
factors.
At both our central and Sugar Land offices, I and my
staff at Houston Infertility Clinic feel optimistic as we
offer our patients the treatment keys that can bring all
the
factors together for success.
Sincerely,
Sonja B. Kristiansen, MD
|