Invtro Fertilization |

Apr 30

Multiple Births

Multiple births: Risks, rewards and reality

By Geri K. Metzger, Staff Writer, myOptumHealth

Fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), have made possible the gift of children for many people not able to conceive on their own. But as with many medical advances, there comes a delicate balance of risk to reward.

With IVF, women have a much higher risk (1 in 3) of having multiple births – twins, triplets or even more babies. For an infertile couple, the choice of more babies versus no babies may seem like a slam dunk.

But there’s a down side. Doctors know firsthand the toll of difficult pregnancies, problem births and babies struggling with multiple complications.

For this reason, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recommends that doctors work with women to transfer the fewest number of embryos for the highest likelihood of pregnancy. For a woman under 35 who has good chances of a pregnancy developing, the guideline is to transplant only one embryo. Continue reading »

Mar 14

Our Personal Story

By Leisha My Personal Story 4 Comments »

by Leisha Greefkes

Hello everyone,

I want to introduce myself and share my husbands and my hard fought 10 year infertility story with you. My name is Leisha and I hope that you find our story inspiring and also keeps your faith up.

My husband and I dated for 9 years before we got married and always talked about having children. After we married we tried right away to have a family. We just didn’t know that it would lead us down a very long path. By no means was this easy for us.

We thought like many other couples that we would get pregnant right away. We tried for several months, but still did not. We consulted with my OBGYN to see if there might be something wrong with me. He suggested that we try naturally for a year. After trying for a year my OBGYN suggested that we go through Artificial Insemination for at least six months. My husband and I tried for a year hoping that one of the extra months we might get lucky, but we did not.

By now my husband and I were beginning to think that there was something wrong with one of us. My doctor suggested that we go through some tests. The tests showed that one of my tubes were blocked. I also mentioned to my doctor that I was having lower abdominal pain for quite sometime. He suggested that I have Laparoscopic Surgery to see what was causing me the pain.