Our Blog
40 Years Ago: World’s First “Test Tube Baby”
In July 1978, Louise Brown was hailed as the world's first "test-tube baby,” born through the fertility treatment in-vitro fertilization (IVF). At the time, IVF was an extremely experimental process. Louise’s mother, Lesley, was told there was one in a million chance...
Pathway2Family: 2018 Summer/Fall Issue
Check out the latest issue of Pathway2Family magazine at pathway2family.org! Here is what is featured in the Summer/Fall 2018 issue: Embryo Adoption Frees a Flurry of Snowflakes – A story by Snowflakes adoptive mother, Emily Shew, who adopted 9 frozen embryos...
Seven Little Lives = One Great Gift
Allison and Brent met at their church, and two years later were married! Then baby-fever hit. The original plan to wait a year to start a family changed quickly. Their attempts at pregnancy success in that first year culminated in the sad diagnosis of infertility....
Divorce and Remaining Embryos
Unfortunately, many marriages end in divorce. And with more and more couples using IVF to build their families, there is an increase of divorce settlements and disputes which include remaining embryos. What happens to these embryos in an event of a divorce? Are they...
National CMV Awareness Month
June is National CMV Awareness Month. CMV, or Cytomegalovirus, is a common virus which closely resembles a cold. 80-85% of women in the United States will test positive for CMV antibodies, meaning they contracted the virus earlier in their lives (likely as a child)....
What Causes Male Infertility?
As we have stated in previous blogs, infertility is most commonly thought of as a female problem. When in reality, men are equally likely to receive this diagnosis. The causes of female infertility are well identified (endometriosis, PCOS, low ovarian reserve, etc.),...
Speaking to Your Patients about Embryo Donation through Snowflakes
Explaining Embryo Adoption to Your Patients
Considering Anonymous Donors
Last week we talked through the very real fact that nearly 50% of all embryos available for adoption or donation are created with egg donors, sperm donors, or both. When thinking through your decision on whether or not to select embryos created this way, you may find...
Questions without Answers
After receiving certain infertility diagnoses, fertility doctors will often recommend IVF with donor egg, donor sperm, or both. This can be a major setback to some families—especially those who have always dreamed of having a genetic child. Couples are often left...
Ibuprofen Causes Infertility?
In the age of the Internet, people expect quick, straight forward solutions to their problems. Everyone thinks they can find the simple and direct answer just by Googling it. Health problems are no different. Today, people are relaying on cutting gluten, or adding...
Where Should I Donate My Embryos?
When families decide they would like to donate their embryos to another family, they are sometimes overwhelmed by all the different donation options that are available to them. In a nutshell, here are three potential programs and options you can pursue when it comes...
Hearts Thawed, Babies Born
Rachael and Pete were hoping to have children of their own, but they found out quickly having babies may not be as easy as they expected. Fertility treatments lead to the birth of their first son Samuel and then a devastating miscarriage. Instead of continuing down...
Preeclampsia and Embryo Adoption
May is National Preeclampsia Awareness Month. Preeclampsia is a disorder which develops after the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. It is characterized by the onset of high blood pressure and often a significant amount of protein in the urine. Many women worry about...
Coping with Male Infertility
When the word infertility is mentioned, most often female infertility is thought of first. Most couples never even consider their infertility can be caused by the man. But males are responsible for 20–30 percent of infertility cases. Men tend to respond to the...