What to Do When You Can't Get Pregnant The Complete Guide to All the Technologies for Couples Facing Fertility Problems

by Potter, Daniel A.; Hanin, Jennifer S.; Madsen, Pamela

• ISBN13: 9781569243718
• ISBN10: 1569243719
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-05-11
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books

Summary

Infertility can be a couple's biggest nightmare, and for many of them, technology is the only place to turn for a chance at successfully conceiving their own child. In What to Do When You Can't Get Pregnant, world-renowned fertility expert Dr. Daniel A. Potter and Jennifer S. Hanina journalist who conceived twin girls through in vitro fertilizationwalk readers step-by-step through the intricate process of having a baby using the latest technologies, sharing insider information on all possible procedures, how to choose the right doctor, what questions to ask, and how to live a healthy "fertile" lifestyle to increase the chances of success. For the first time, readers will have access to detailed information on the very latest scientific advances in the field, including prescreening for genetic diseases, gender-choosing, and pre-selecting desirable traits for children. Complete with smart advice on handling emotional issues caused by the frustrations of infertility, What to Do When You Can't Get Pregnant is the only guide couples will ever need to navigate the complicated maze of technology and science leading to parenthood and to make informed choices about their treatment, family, and future.

Author Biography

Daniel A. Potter, MD, is a world-renowned reproductive endocrinologist and director of the internationally acclaimed Huntington Reproductive Center Medical Group in California. Dr. Potter is a frequent speaker at numerous hospitals, medical centers, and fertility centers and organizations, including The American Society for Reproductive Health, The American Infertility Association, The International Council on Infertility Information Dissemination, Inc., and Resolve Organization. An advocate for women's healthcare, Dr. Potter also serves an an attending physician at Women's Hospital in Los Angeles and as a medical director at the Anaheim Memorial Medical Center.

Jennifer Hanin, MA, is a freelance journalist and the mother of twin girls concieved through in vitro infertilization.

Pamela Madsen is the executive director of The American Fertility Association and the mother of two children concieved through in vitro fertilization.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xvii
Foreword	xxi
Pamela Madsen
Introduction	xxiii
Are You Infertile?	1	(19)
What Is Infertility?	1	(3)
Why Is Infertility so Common?	4	(1)
What Has to Happen for Fertilization to Occur?	5	(3)
How Many Eggs Do You Have?	8	(1)
What Can We Do?	9	(1)
Worrying about Infertility	10	(1)
What Kind of Doctor Should You See?	11	(1)
Doctors Who Can Help	12	(2)
When Should You Seek a Subspecialist?	14	(1)
Communicating with Your Practitioner	15	(1)
Shopping for a Practice	16	(1)
Trusting Online Sources	17	(1)
Finding the Right Match	18	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	18	(1)
In an Eggshell	19	(1)
Your Fertility Workup	20	(17)
Discovering the Truth	20	(1)
The Male Evaluation	21	(1)
Semen Analysis	21	(3)
The Female Evaluation	24	(1)
Confirming Ovulation	25	(1)
Ovarian Reserve Testing	26	(2)
The Clomiphene Citrate Challenge Test	28	(1)
Miscarriages and Abortions	29	(1)
When Everything Looks Normal	30	(1)
When You've ``Made the Cut''	30	(1)
Your Fertility Regimen	31	(1)
Fertility Myths	32	(1)
What About Financing?	33	(1)
Does Insurance Cover Anything?	34	(1)
Are Fertility Treatments Tax Deductible?	35	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	35	(1)
In an Eggshell	36	(1)
What Your Doctor Might Find in Men	37	(16)
Understanding Your Partner	37	(3)
Varicocele	40	(2)
Varicocele Repair Is Effective	42	(1)
Idiopathic Infertility	43	(3)
Vasectomy Reversal	46	(2)
Collecting Sperm	48	(2)
Freezing Sperm	50	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	51	(1)
In an Eggshell	51	(2)
What Your Doctor Might Find in You	53	(15)
Ovarian Factors	55	(4)
Cervical Factors	59	(1)
Tubal Factors	60	(1)
Uterine Factors	61	(1)
Uterine Fibroids	62	(2)
Peritoneal Factors	64	(3)
What Questions Should You Ask?	67	(1)
In an Eggshell	67	(1)
Living a Fertile Lifestyle	68	(19)
Finding a Balance	68	(1)
Making the Commitment	69	(1)
Fertility Foods: Are They Real?	69	(1)
Shrinking Your Waistline	69	(1)
Drugs that Decrease Fertility	70	(2)
Lifestyle Choices	72	(1)
Counteracting Stress	73	(1)
Complementary Therapies	73	(9)
What if Nothing Seems to Work?	82	(1)
Situations That May Require Egg Freezing	83	(1)
Do Women Hold Hidden Egg Reserves?	84	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	85	(1)
In an Eggshell	85	(2)
Assessing Treatment Options	87	(17)
Tossing the Pill	88	(1)
What about Natural Techniques?	89	(1)
Are You Ovulating?	90	(1)
Natural Fertility Forecasting	91	(2)
Gauging Your Cervical Mucous	93	(1)
Ovulation Predictor Kits	94	(1)
Fertility Monitors	95	(1)
Saliva Fertility Monitor	96	(2)
In-Home Sperm Tests	98	(1)
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)	99	(2)
What to Know Before Going Low- or High-Tech	101	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	102	(1)
In an Eggshell	103	(1)
Super-Sizing Your Chances (Inducing Ovulation)	104	(19)
Natural Ovulation	104	(1)
What Is Ovulation Induction?	105	(2)
Superovulation	107	(2)
Risks of Ovarian Hyperstimulation	109	(1)
Multiple Births	110	(2)
Multi-Fetal Pregnancy Reduction	112	(2)
Do Fertility Drugs Cause Cancer?	114	(2)
Fertility Medications	116	(2)
Administering Injections	118	(2)
Injections Made Simple	120	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	120	(1)
In an Eggshell	121	(2)
The Art of Art	123	(25)
What is ART?	124	(1)
IVF	125	(1)
Your IVF Protocol	125	(5)
Preparing for Egg Retrieval	130	(2)
Retrieval Day	132	(3)
Fertilization: Creating an Embryo	135	(1)
ICSI: Reversing Male Factor Infertility	136	(1)
Assisted Hatching: Cracking the Shell	137	(1)
Transfer Day	138	(1)
Picking Your Team	139	(2)
It's Time	141	(1)
Baby Rest	142	(2)
The Call	144	(1)
What If Your Cycle Fails?	145	(1)
Embryos on Ice	145	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	146	(1)
In an Eggshell	147	(1)
Sometimes It Takes Four	148	(25)
What to Know about Third-Party Reproduction	148	(1)
When to Consider Sperm Donation	149	(1)
When to Consider Egg Donation	149	(2)
What You Need to Know about Egg Donation	151	(1)
Why Egg Donors Do What They Do	152	(1)
Selecting Your Egg Donor	153	(1)
Personalizing Your Donor	153	(1)
When to Consider Embryo Donation	154	(1)
When to Consider Surrogacy	154	(2)
What You Need to Know about Surrogacy	156	(1)
Why Do You Need Professional Guidance?	157	(1)
Your Professional Team	158	(2)
Why Do You Need a Contract?	160	(1)
What Screening Applies to Donors and Surrogates?	161	(1)
Why Use a Large Agency?	162	(1)
Why Surrogates Do What They Do	162	(3)
Why Is Matching so Important?	165	(1)
Selecting Your Surrogate	165	(1)
Understanding Everyone's Perspective	166	(1)
Does Your State Permit Surrogacy?	167	(3)
When to Reconsider Third-Party Reproduction	170	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	171	(1)
In an Eggshell	172	(1)
Preventing Relationship Meltdowns	173	(13)
Understanding Your Emotional Realities	175	(2)
Avoid Playing the Blame Game	177	(1)
Know Your Comfort Quotient	178	(1)
Baby or Bust?	178	(2)
Avoiding Holiday Headaches	180	(1)
Communicating What Matters	181	(1)
Spicing Up Your Relationship	182	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	183	(2)
In an Eggshell	185	(1)
When to Consider Moving On	186	(13)
When Is It Time to Stop Trying?	186	(1)
Owning Your Decision	187	(2)
Devising a Game Plan	189	(1)
Closing the Door	190	(1)
Considering Adoption	190	(3)
Foster Parents	193	(2)
Childfree Living	195	(2)
What Questions Should You Ask?	197	(1)
In an Eggshell	198	(1)
Choosing Your Child's Gender: Microsort	199	(10)
Historical Methods of Gender Selection	200	(1)
Why Use Gender Selection Today?	201	(1)
Fighting X-Linked Genetic Diseases	201	(1)
Family Balancing	202	(1)
MicroSort: Separating the Boys from the Girls	203	(2)
Finding MicroSort	205	(1)
Qualifying for MicroSort	206	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	207	(1)
In an Eggshell	208	(1)
Prescreening Your Child for Genetic Diseases: PGD	209	(16)
Genetics and Disease: A Brief Overview	210	(1)
PGD: Getting Started	211	(10)
Who Needs PGD?	221	(2)
What Questions Should You Ask?	223	(1)
In an Eggshell	224	(1)
Designer Babies	225	(8)
Can You Trust Online Donor Web Sites?	226	(1)
Science Is Technology: A Historical Account	226	(2)
What Is a Designer Baby?	228	(1)
Kids a la Carte?	228	(1)
Bioengineered Babies	228	(1)
Blurring Origins	229	(1)
Treatment of Last Resort	230	(1)
Making Your Own Choice	231	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	231	(1)
In an Eggshell	231	(2)
To Tell or Not to Tell?	233	(12)
Conceived with Love	234	(1)
Truth or Consequences?	234	(1)
Making It Okay	235	(1)
Are There Benefits to Disclosure?	235	(2)
What Is the Appropriate Age to Tell Your Child?	237	(1)
Don't Give Blow-by-Blow Accounts	238	(1)
What to Say to Your Preschooler: Ages 3 to 5	238	(1)
Interacting with Curious Minds: Age 6 to 10	239	(1)
Discussions with Your Adolescent	240	(1)
What If You Want to Bring God into the Conversation?	240	(1)
What If My Child Finds Out by Accident?	240	(1)
Knowing When to Not Make a Big Deal	241	(1)
Making the Right Decision for Your Family	242	(1)
When to Withhold the Truth?	242	(1)
What Do Experts Recommend?	242	(1)
What Questions Should You Ask?	243	(1)
In an Eggshell	243	(2)
Where Is Reproductive Medicine Heading?	245	(24)
Probable	246	(8)
In Vitro Maturation	246	(1)
Stem Cell Therapy	247	(4)
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer	251	(2)
Ovarian Tissue Transplant	253	(1)
Possible	254	(4)
Ovarian Tissue Grafts	254	(1)
Embryo Cloning	254	(1)
Manufactured Eggs	255	(1)
Eggs from Stem Cells	256	(2)
Plausible	258	(6)
Transplanted or Artificial Wombs	258	(1)
Sperm from Stem Cells	259	(1)
Making Babies without Sperm	259	(2)
Cloning	261	(3)
Ever-Changing Insurance Laws	264	(1)
Can We Police a Future Society?	265	(1)
Where Do We Draw the Line?	265	(1)
What Questions, Should You Ask?	266	(1)
In an Eggshell	267	(2)
Appendix: Fertility Forecasting Chart	269	(1)
Glossary	270	(24)
Resources	294	(3)
Index	297