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Linkworthy: 22.October.2007
2007-10-23 06:54:00 Eggs Catch Sperm - Not the other way around, reports Sandy Robertson. A woman's eggs now seen as "active sperm catchers."Soy Is Okay For Male Fertility - After all, millions of Asian men consume lots of soy without obvious infertility problems.The Cost Of IVF - At least one person believes "infertility treatments are one of great bargains in modern health care". A Mom-To-Be Is Born - After 7 miscarriages, Vivien and her husband had their adoption application approved! More About: October 2007 , October , Wort
Win $50 for Writing a Blog Post!
2007-10-20 23:11:00 In honor of my recent $1000 win over at Problogger, I have decided to start my own blog contest - My very first! You can enter two ways - by writing about my blog or by subscribing to my RSS feed: The PrizesFor Writing Blog Post : $50 via PayPalFor Subscribing to my RSS feed: A free text link in my sidebar for 1 year. If you enter both ways, you can win both prizes!The Contest RulesFor the blog post: Write a 100-word or more blog post with a link to my home page with the anchor text "egg donation". After writing it, let me know by leaving a comment below with a link to your blog post and email address so I can contact you.For subscribing to my RSS feed: After you subscribe, let me know by leaving a comment below with blog url and email address so I can contact you.All winners will be chosen randomly. That’s all there is to it. I'm hoping people do both so they can win both prizes. The deadline for entry is November 25, and I will announce the winners November 27. Good luck!
Carnival of Infertility and Pregnancy #1
2007-10-20 22:14:00 Welcome to the first edition of the Infertility and Pregnancy blog carnival. I’m pleased with the submissions in our inaugural issue and excited about presenting such an interesting group of perspectives! On to the show...Female InfertilityMilky Way presents Thyroid Issues Affecting Fertility and The Thyroid's Role in Reproductive Immunologic Problems. She writes that hyperthyroidism symptoms include "palpitations, heat intolerance, weight loss, trembling hands and light menstruation" and discusses how she and her endocrinologist began treating her condition.Male InfertilityAnol Mehta explains How to Make a Baby the Right Way- With Illustrations!. Anol digs into the "ancient Hindu Scriptures, the Vedas" as he explores the "Garbhaadhaan Sanskar, or the Sacrament of Conception ... part of the Sanskar Vidhi... It involves spirituality, love and sex… and ...something about making babies too".That's it for this issue of the Carnival of Infertility and Pregnancy. Be sure to check b...
Celebrities Who Have Used IVF and Surrogacy, Part 2
2007-10-20 21:06:00 This article is is Part 2 in the series Celebrities Who Have Used IVF, Surrogacy, and Egg Donation. You can read Part 1 here. Cindy Margolis - Model and actress Cindy Margolis is most famous for being the "most downloaded woman on the internet" and her sexy Playboy centerfolds. Margolis had her son Nicholas through IVF and GIFT in 2002 and her two daughters, Sabrina and Sierra through a surrogate in 2005. Cindy is the National Spokesperson for RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association.Chris Meloni - Emmy-winning actor Christopher Meloni is known for his roles as a tough police detective Elliot Stabler in NBC's Law and Order: SVU and bisexual serial killer Chris Keller in HBO's now-defunct prison drama Oz. Meloni and his wife Sherman Williams conceived their two children, Sophia and Dante, through a gestational surrogate. Laurie Metcalf - Emmy-winning actress Laurie Metcalf is famous for playing Roseanne Barr's sister Jackie Harris in the hit ABC comedy Roseanne as well as ...
IVF Without Twins: Single Embryo Transfer Gives Hope For Older Women
2007-10-13 18:21:00 Transferring one embryo rather than multiple embryos can help some infertile women over 35 years old conceive and give birth, according to a new study by Stanford University researchers published in the journal Fertility and Sterility. This study gives hope to older infertile women interested in IVF (in vitro fertilization), but don't want twins or multiple births.Single Blastocyst Transfer Study's Success Rates50 percent of the women in this study became pregnant after the single blastocyst transfer procedure, a success rate that is almost twice the national average for IVF women in this age group who use IVF. However, researcher Dr. Amin A. Milki, MD notes that the women in this study were carefully selected and are not representative of the wider population. Most women in this age do not have enough high-quality eggs to allow the transfer of only one embryo. But for those who do, the single blastocyst transfer procedure offers a very good chance at pregnancy with a low chance o... More About: Women , Twins , Transfer , Hope
I Won $1,000 Bucks From Problogger.net!
2007-10-09 19:33:00 Great news everyone! Last week I submitted this post into the Problogger.net $1000 charity giveaway, and I won!For first prize, FreeMoneyFinanace.Com is donating $1,000 to a charity of my choice, and I chose RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association.The post I submitted, What Everyone Ought to Know About RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association, was one of many posts about worthwhile nonprofit charities. Here are the other charities that were submitted (there are some really interesting ones!):The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Give Kids the World VillageMake a Wish FoundationThe Craft Emergency Relief FundThe National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyThe American Lighthouse FoundationMothers Without BordersThe Colorectal Cancer CoalitionThe Wildlife Care AssociationThe Home School Foundation Widows FundAdopt America NetworkStorehouse ProjectJoyful Heart FoundationThe Lupus Foundation of AmericaCeliac Disease FoundationUSOGal To Gal WalkRich Cronin Hope FoundationNational Associa... More About: Bucks
What Everyone Ought to Know About RESOLVE, the National Infertility Associa
2007-10-06 19:22:00 RESOLVE is a non-profit organization that provides support, education, and political advocacy for people living with infertility, a medical condition which affects 1 in 8 American adults. RESOLVE offers support for people with infertility in numerous ways. Volunteers on their telephone help line answer questions and provide support for people coping with infertility. Across the country, RESOLVE hosts numerous infertility support groups which help thousands of people every year. They also publish Family Building magazine, which provides important news about infertility, adoption and childfree living as well as medical, emotional and legislative issues (It's a great read!). RESOLVE provides political advocacy for people living with infertility in a number of ways. RESOLVE's advocacy was instrumental in passing legislation to require insurance companies to cover infertility treatments in Massachussetts, New York, and several other states. Currently they are sponsoring House Resolutio... More About: National , The Nation , The National
Wanted: A Few Good Bloggers
2007-10-04 00:08:00 Calling all bloggers! If you blog about trying to conceive, infertility, surrogacy, egg donation, or something related to reproductive health and medicine, I want to link to you from this blog in our new blog carnival!What's a blog carnival, you ask? Blog carnivals are collections of links to blog posts on a similar topic. Our blog carnival is called A Carnival of Infertility and Pregnancy, and we're looking for blog posts about trying to concieve using infertility treatments like IVF, IUI, artificial insemination, and surrogacy, living with infertilility, and pregnancy. We're looking for both mommy bloggers and daddy bloggers.Why submit an article to our blog carnival? Submitting a blog post to our carnival is a terrific opportunity to expose your blog to a whole new audience and also get some link juice at the same time. Readers who enjoy your writing will click through to your other posts and perhaps even subscribe to your RSS feed, join your MyBlogLog community, or explore yo... More About: Bloggers , Good , Wanted
Buy Infertility Books and Products at The Infertility Store!
2007-10-02 18:25:00 If you're a regular reader of the Guide to Egg Donation and Infertility, you might have noticed the small panel on the bottom of the sidebar on the left hand of the page titled "Our Recommendations." Inside the panel you'll find links to products in our new Amazon aStore , The Infertility Store. The Infertility Store features our favorite books about infertility and infertility treatments as well as products for people trying to conceive, like ovulation predictors, pregnancy tests, and supplements to enhance fertility for men and women. What infertility books and supplies do you recommend?In the coming weeks we'll be adding more products to the Infertility Store, and we'd like to know what you recommend--or don't recommend. If there's a book or product that you feel has helped you, we'd like to know about it. More About: Products , Books
Glucophage (Metformin) - Drug Description and Side Effects
2007-10-01 12:41:00 US brand names: Glucophage, Glucophage XR U.S. drug manufacturer: Sanofi-AventisOther brand names: Metformin, Glumetza, Fortamet, Riomet, Diabex, Diaformin, CidometGeneric name: metformin hydrochlorideHow is it taken? Glucophage is taken orally, in tablets.What type of drug is Glucophage (metformin hydrochloride)? Glucophage controls the body's production of glucose in the blood sugar. Because it helps control blood sugar, it is FDA-approved for treating Type 2 diabetes. However, its most popular off-label use is treating women with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), a leading cause of infertility in women. For women with PCOS, glucophage lowers their insulin level, decreases their testosterone levels, and restores their normal menstuation cycles. Glucophage is from the biguanide class of oral antihyperglycemic agents.What Glucophage (Glucophage XR/ Metformin / Glumetza / Fortamet / Riomet / Diabex / Diaformin / Cidomet) is approved to treat: Glucophage was invented as an anti-dia... More About: Drug , Side , Side Effects , Effects , Description
How Much Money Would You Spend To Have a Child Through Infertility Treatmen
2007-09-29 19:33:00 Personal finance--especially when it comes to infertility treatments--can be a touchy subject, and not everyone can afford the same level or scope of treatment for their infertility. Insurance plans can differ drastically, too. Some plans cover infertility treatments while others leave infertility patient to cover the costs out of pocket. This week I'm asking a very personal question: What's The Most You Would Pay To Have a Child Using Infertility Treatments?. Take the pollYou can also let people know what you think in the comments below! More About: Money
8 Fertility Clinics in Spain To Get Infertility Treatments Abroad
2007-09-29 17:28:00 Americans and Britons are traveling abroad for infertility treatments in record numbers. No one country in Europe or Asia seems to have a lock on this medical tourism trend. Popular destinations for infertility treatments include the Czech Republic, Thailand, India, and South Africa.Spain is also very popular. In the cities, twisting old streets open out to views of daring modern architecture, while hundred year old bars serving wine from the barrel rub shoulders with blaring, glaring discos. Travel is easy, accommodation abounds, the climate is mild, the people are relaxed, the beaches are long and sandy, and the food and drink are easy to come by and full of regional variety. In short, Spain is a great place for getting infertility treatments abroad.List of Fertility Clinics in SpainUnidad de Reproducción Hospital Virgen del Mar de Almería - Located in Almería, Spain. They don't have a web site. Their telephone number is +950290099/950290625. They provide infertility treatment... More About: Treatments , Broad
Boston Researchers: Fertility Treatments Linked to High Blood Pressure in P
2007-09-05 01:58:00 Women who get pregnant with fertility treatments like IVF, ICSI, and IUI are more likely to develop gestational hypertension than women who get pregnant "the old fashioned way," from sexual intercourse, according to new a new study by researchers at Boston University. Boston University's Dr. Allen A. Mitchell and colleagues studied more than 5,000 women who gave birth, interviewing them about their experiences, including demographic information such as age and weight, and medical information, such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and their use of infertility treatments. They found significant differences in rates of gestational hypertension (high blood pressure during pregnancy) and preeclampsia between women who had used fertility-enhancing medical treatments and those who hadn't:Women who had undergone infertility treatments had a higher rate of gestational hypertension than those who did not have infertility treatments, at 15.8 percent versus 8.9 percent, respectively.... More About: Treatments , Blood , High , High Blood Pressure
Study Links PCOS, Infertility to Obesity in Women
2007-08-31 19:29:00 In Western nations where obesity is increasing, there is going to be an infertility crisis. A new study published in the medical journal The Lancet suggests that obesity is closely linked to PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome. Right now, PCOS is a leading cause of female infertility that affects 1 in 15 women around the world. The researchers suggest that if obesity continues to rise, infertility caused by PCOS will rise along with it. What is PCOS?PCOS is an endocrine disorder that is closely linked with excess body fat. Researchers believe that women with obesity stress their endocrine systems, causes their bodies to produce excess amounts of male hormones (androgens), which in turn raises likelihood of female infertility. The researchers not that: "Obesity has a substantial effect on the manifestation of polycystic ovary syndrome... Excess weight exacerbates metabolic and reproductive abnormalities in women with the syndrome, and family studies suggest weight gain might promot... More About: Women , Study , Links
Fertility Specialists: How to Find the Right Fertility Doctor
2007-08-27 19:10:00 If you are one of the 7.3 million Americans dealing with infertility, you're likely familiar with the anxiety, depression, and self-blame that often accompanies it. The symptoms of infertility aren't just physical--they're emotional, too. That's why it's so important to find the best, most qualified fertility specialists to diagnose and treat your fertility problems.Types of fertility doctorsThere are three main types of fertility doctors: Obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), andrologists, and reproductive endocrinologists.Obstetrician/gynecologis ts specialize in the general medical care of women, especially related to pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive organs, breasts and sexual function in women. OB/GYN's diagnose and treat a wide variety of women's medical conditions including hormonal imbalances, sexually transmitted infections, and cancers of the reproductive organs (ovaries, uterus, cervix, etc).Obstetrician/gynecologists' education, training, and qualifications - Af... More About: Find , Doctor , Cialis
Do You Have An Egg Donation Success Story?
2007-08-26 22:49:00 I've been writing articles on this blog for white a while now and apart from running some polls, I've not heard many readers' experiences with egg donation. So let's change that! If you've successfully used an egg donor to conceive, or you have successfully donated eggs, I'd like to hear your story! If you have an experience you'd like to share, you can write about it in the comments below or leave a link to it (if you have written about it on your blog). More About: Story , Success , Donation , Success Story , Tory
These Czech Republic Fertility Clinics Offer Affordable IVF, ICSI, and Egg
2007-08-25 22:46:00 As I pointed out in an earlier post, more and more Americans dealing with infertility are choosing to travel to fertility clinics abroad to avoid high prices in the US. One of the most popular destinations for IVF holidays in Europe is the Czech Rep ublic , a country that manages to be both old world and new world simultaneously. Their capital, Prague, is a bustling city with all the modern conveniences you'd find in Paris, London, or Zurich, including highly qualified physicians working in high-tech hospitals and clinics. But take the train into the countyside surrounding it, into the mountains, and you'll find ancient castles and tiny villages seemingly untouched by time. It's a wonderful place to take your IVF vacation, and an extremely affordable alternative to US fertility clinics and egg donation programs.Approximate Costs for Infertility Treatments in Czech Republic Fertility Clinics Price for IVF procedures (including ICSI, embryo hatching, and fertility drugs): around $4,0... More About: These
Celebrities Who've Used Surrogacy and Other Infertility Treatments, Part 1
2007-08-23 19:08:00 Hollywood celebrities like Angeline Jolie, Brad Pitt, Maddona, and Rosie O'Donnell have made headlines by adopting children, but increasing numbers of celebrities are turning to assisted reproduction treatments to start their families. Here you'll find brief biographies detailing celebrities I've found who used surrogates, egg donation, IVF, ICSI, and other infertility treatments.Celebrites Who've Used a Gestational SurrogateActress Angela Bassett and hubby Courtney B. Vance - Bassett, famous for her Oscar-nominated performance in the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do with It, and Vance (star of Law and Order: Criminal Intent) had twins Bronwyn Golden and Slater Josiah through a gestational surrogate.Robert De Niro Oscar-winning actor Deniro and his ex-partner Toukie Smith had twin boys using a surrogate in 1995.Peri Gilpin - Actress Peri Gilpin, famous for playing Ros in the sitcom Frasier, had two baby girls, Stella and Ava, using a gestational surrogate. Kelsey Gramme... More About: Treatments , Celebrities , Part
An Egg Donor, a Surrogate, and a Mom: Three Women Make a Baby
2007-08-14 21:45:00 Kelly over at Strollerderby alerted me to this story about Beth Brenner, a forty-something woman who used both an egg donor and a gestational surrogate to get pregnant and have a baby. Before trying the surrogate, Beth and her husband Bob had tried IVF using donor eggs three times with no success. Then her fertility doctor suggested she try hiring a surrogate, a woman who agrees to get pregnant and give birth to others' children. After debating the pros and cons, Beth and Bob decided to give it a try. They used Beth's husband's sperm and the egg donor's eggs, and finally one of the resulting embryos were successfully implanted in the surrogate, Sylvia.This is where it gets interesting:The relationship between Beth and Sylvia was remarkably free of power struggles, but they could not escape them entirely. In February, with her kids’ spring break approaching, Sylvia e-mailed Beth and Bob to tell them that she’d decided to take a family trip to New York City—could she visit t... More About: Women , Baby , Make , Dono
Thousands of Donated Human Eggs Are Missing, Possibly Stolen
2007-07-24 20:07:00 A California egg donor agency might have stolen or misused more than 2,000 human eggs harvested from egg donors without their permission, according to this article from the Orange County Register. The egg donor agency, known as Options National Fertility Registry, operated between 1992 and 2003, when it filed for bankruptcy. When an egg donor for Options reviewed the bankruptcy papers, she learned that the eggs she agreed to donate to one infertile couple had in fact been given to a different couple without her knowledge or consent. The egg donor found out her eggs had essentially been stolen, sued the doctor who gave them to the other couple, and settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money.Thousands of eggs are missing and not accounted forIn the wake of the bankruptcy, officials began to review Options' post-egg donation records, and found additional discrepencies between what egg donors were told would happen to their eggs and what actually happened to them. The bank... More About: Eggs , Human , Stolen , Missing , Ossi
ICSI May Be Overused by IVF Clinics
2007-07-23 19:41:00 IVF clinics may be overusing the fertility treatment known as ICSI, or intracytoplasmic sperm injection, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. ICSI is a fertility treatment used to treat low semen count or poor sperm quality, two types of male infertility. To perform ICSI, laboratory specialists place a single sperm into an egg using a tiny syringe. ICSI is used as an add on to IVF, or in vitro fertilization.The percentage of IVF cycles that used ICSI increased from 11 percent in 1995 to 57.5 percent in 2004, despite the fact that only 34 percent of couples seeking treatment had issues with low sperm count or poor sperm quality, according to Head researcher Tarun Jain, assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Illinois-Chicago, and colleagues.In a separate statement, Dr. Jain pointed out that "despite its added cost and uncertain efficacy and risk, the use of ICSI has been extended to include patients ... More About: Verus , Clinics
Clomid - Drug Description and Side Effects
2007-07-20 19:41:00 US brand name: Clomid U.S. drug manufacturer: Sanofi-AventisOther brand names: Milophene, Serophene, Clomifert, Fertomid, Siphene, OmifinGeneric name: clomiphene citrate, clomifene citrateHow is it taken? Clomid is taken orally, in tablets.What type of drug is Clomid? Clomid is used as a fertility drug for women with ovulatory dysfunction, who are not ovulating properly. It is from a class of drugs known as selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM).What Clomid (Milophene / Serophene / Clomifert / Fertomid / Siphene / Omifin) are approved to treat:Clomid is prescribed to treat PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome, psychogenic amenorrhea, post-oral-contraceptive amenorrhea, and specific types of secondary amenorrhea of undetermined etiology.Off-label uses of clomiphene: Some fertility specialists prescribe clomiphene to treat men with a low sperm count due to low testosterone levels. However, the success rates for clomiphene treatment for males are ab... More About: Drug , Side , Side Effects , Effects , Description
Four Agencies That Specialize in Asian Egg Donors
2007-07-16 20:30:00 "... As egg donation has surged over the past two decades, clinics and donor recruiting agencies say the supply of ethnic minority donors, especially Asian s, has not kept pace with demand." That's what the Washington Post says.Asian egg donors are hard to find. If you're looking to make a family with an Asian egg donor, you may face long waiting lists at your local ivf clinics and egg donation agencies. The relative shortage of egg donors means that people looking to build their family through IVF with egg donation using Asian or Asian-American donor eggs should consider employing an egg donor agency that specializes in finding Asian donors. To help you get started, I've put together a list of egg donor programs below.Agencies That Specialize in Asian Egg Dono rsLA Baby - Based in Los Angeles, Califorinia. According to their web site they "offer one of the nation’s largest Asian egg donor databases."Asian Egg Donor - Based in San Francisco, California. According to their web sit...
PGD and IVF Is No Riskier Than IVF Alone
2007-07-15 06:48:00 Good news for aspiring parents at risk of passing on genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease to their children. According to a recently released study, children born from using PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) do not experience any more birth defects than those born without using PGD. PGD can help these couples identify embryos carrying a genetic disease before they are implanted into a woman's body, thus avoiding the difficult choice of abortion. Head researcher Professor Ingeborg Liebaers said the results of her study were reassuring; "... were encouraged to find that the major malformation rate was only 3.6%, or no higher than that which is found in children born after conventional IVF and ICSI." Professor Liebaers, from the Research Centre for Reproductive Genetics, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium, reported her study results at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics June 20, 2007. More About: Lone , Alone
Egg Harvesting to Preserve Women's Fertility
2007-07-10 04:27:00 Female fertility peaks when women are in their twenties. By their mid-thirties, female egg quality begins to deteriorate quickly as a natural part of aging. This poses problems for women who wait to have children, as their chances of conceiving are lowered as they age. According to the ASRM fact sheet Age and Fertility (PDF), 7 percent of women aged 20 - 24 years old are considered infertile. 15 percent of women aged 30 - 34 are infertile. 29 percent of women aged 40-44 are infertile. I remember when my sister turned 40, she joked that her "biological clock was running out." Increasing age comes with increased odds at infertility.For women who wish to delay conception and pregnancy, and who wish to have children with genetic connections to themselves, egg harvesting has become an increasingly popular fertility treatment that can preserve women's fertility.What is egg harvesting?Egg harvesting is a fertility treatment in which a doctor removes a woman's eggs, then freezes them s... More About: Harvest , Reserve , Serve
International Infertility Film Festival Still Accepting Submissions
2007-07-09 23:54:00 The Intern ational Infertility Film Festival is an online film festival in which anyone can contribute video shorts about living with fertility problems. Filmmakers can submit as many films as they like, but the festival judges request that submissions be no longer than 5 minutes each. To enter, you just make the film, upload it to YouTube and submit it. The deadline for submitting film shorts is July 28, 2007.Entries in the first annual contest are touching, informative, and provocative. Definately worth checking out. More About: Film Festival
Medical Tourism: Save Money and Stay Safe Overseas
2007-07-09 18:57:00 In a previous post about IVF vacations abroad I noted how medical tourism was becoming a popular way of trying to get high-quality, affordable medical care. Just how popular it was getting I didn't know until today.In a recently published article about the rise of medical tourism across the globe, Josef Woodman, author of the medical tourism guidebook Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody's Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Tourism estimated that more than 150,000 Americans traveled abroad for health care in 2006. And since it's gaining popularity quickly, Woodman expects that number to double in 2007.To understand why so many people want to travel from their home countries in the USA, Canada, and the UK for medical care, you only need to compare the prices for treatment. The price savings on cross-border medical care can be dramatic. For example, one commercial medical tourism web site (www.medicaltourism.com) estimates that a heart bypass in the United States costs $130,000... More About: Medical Tourism , Money , Save Money
Scientists harvest eggs from young cancer patients, preserve fertility
2007-07-08 20:11:00 NurseTips tipped me off to this interesting story. For the first time scientists have harvested eggs from girls as young as five who have cancer and matured them in the laboratory before freezing them for later use. Before this, doctors had thought female eggs were only viable after girls reached puberty. Chemotherapy treatments for cancer can sometimes damage women's eggs, causing medical infertility for many women who underwent cancer treatment. Dr Ariel Revel, who directed the research, said, "We didn't expect young girls to have eggs that could withstand the process of maturation." TThis is great news for all young girls and women with fertility problems. It helps pave the way for preserving women's fertility.More resources: ASRM Fact Sheet on Fertility Preservation (PDF file) More About: Cancer , Eggs , Young , Patients , Scientists
What's the cheapest price for IVF you've seen?
More articles from this author:2007-07-07 06:02:00 The price of IVF (in vitro fertilization) varies greatly around the country. I was wondering: What's the cheapest price for IVF you've seen lately? Let others know in the comments below. More About: Price 1, 2, 3 |
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