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Why Male Infertility Isn’t a Matter of Masculinity
As many as 1 in 8 couples in the United States suffer from infertility. When it comes to the cause, about 40% can be traced to the woman and another 40% traced to the man (the remaining number are either undiagnosed or a combination of causes). Both men and women can...
Embryo Grades (& Why They May Not Matter)
When it comes to IVF, there is a lot of emphasis placed on the quality of the embryos. Because doctors and patients want to have the best chance possible for success during an embryo transfer, clinics attempt to choose the “best” embryos of the bunch. To do this, an...
Things You and Your Partner Can Do to Increase Your Chances of Getting Pregnant
If you are trying for a baby and want to increase your chances of conceiving, there are things that you and your partner can do together to help boost your chances. Check out some of these fertility-boosting ideas: Change your diet. Not only is it a good idea to go...
5 Advantages of Embryo Adoption
1. Embryo Adoption allows the mother to experience pregnancy and childbirth. Many families who cannot conceive mourn the fact they have never experienced pregnancy and childbirth. Other types of adoption cannot alleviate this grief. When the woman has received a...
12 Questions Embryo Adoptees Want Answered
Even if you decided to adopt your child as an embryo, they will have questions. We recommend you begin gathering answers to these questions now, to make answering them later a bit easier. What are my genetic parents’ first and middle names? Do I have any genetic...
10 Things to Never Say to an Infertility Patient
1. Are they yours? Well, um since I’m the one diapering, carrying, burping, and worrying over them, I sure hope they are mine! Oh, wait, surely you are not fishing to find out if we used donor eggs to help us conceive them since clearly that would be rude, and clearly...
10 Tips for Using Health Insurance to Cover Fertility Treatments
1. Understand your insurance coverage BEFORE you see a specialist. 2. Make sure you have the latest copy of the Evidence of Coverage document detailing the coverage benefits offered by your policy. This document changes frequently. 3. Get your infertility coverage in...
Top 10 Tips for Telling Children about Donor Egg, Sperm and Embryo
1. Telling a process, not a one- or even two-time event. You start laying the groundwork and add detail as your child ages. 2. Don’t over tell. The temptation is to put it all out there, tell everything you know and be done with the darn thing. Start simple and build...
The Right Adoption Option for You
Characteristics of the prospective parent Embryo Adoption International Adoption U.S. Infant Adoption U.S. Foster Care Adoption 1. My age is: Under 25 25-25 Over 45 Most programs suggest that the adopting mother is no older than 45 because of the difficulties that can...
Embryo Donation Decision Tool
What to do with your unused embryos? A guide for sorting through the options. Many couples who choose in vitro fertilization (IVF) create more embryos than they finally use to build their family. Remaining embryos are in frozen storage. But now your family is happily...
7 Standard Infertility Tests
The initial infertility evaluation always includes investigation on both partners. For women: Ovarian reserve testing to assess both egg quantity and quality Blood markers, FSH-follicle stimulating hormone and AMH-anti-mullerian hormone Pelvic ultrasound to look for...
Five Infertility Blogs to Follow
The Internet is making is easier for people struggling with infertility to connect with a community who understands what they are going through. People dealing with infertility in even the most remote areas of the country are able to find supportive groups in online...
The Cost of Infertility: Egg Donation
In this blog series, we’re looking where your money goes when it comes to alternative family building methods. In our first post, we looked at sperm donation and how the $250-$1,000 price tag adds up. Now we’ll look at another popular family building option: using...
What Option do You Have After an Infertility Diagnosis?
Millions of couples will face an infertility diagnosis. After you’ve been diagnosed, what happens next? While some couples may decide not to parent, others will begin looking at alternative family building options. Their roadblocks won’t end there, though. They may...
New Fertility Solutions Allow Women to Incubate IVF Embryos Inside Their Body
In an IVF procedure, embryos are created in a laboratory by skilled technicians before they are incubated in extremely sophisticated (and expensive) machines. For embryos to develop, they need to be incubated at the right temperature and with the right mix of carbon...