Infertility Treatments and Multiple Sclerosis

There is an article on WebMD, which discuss two studies that show that infertility treatments increase relapse rates for MS patients.  This makes me incredibly sad.  Infertility is hard enough and so is MS, but to have both and to know that infertility treatments may make your MS worse is just too much.  I wish the best for women who are suffering from infertility and MS.

Multiple Sclerosis and Pregnancy

Here is a link to the full article.

My book, Five Strands of Hope, is available here on Amazon.  It is a memoir about my journey through secondary infertility through a horrendous triplet pregnancy.

Higher Rates of Psychiatric Disorders Among Childless Women who Faced Infertility

I found this article to be interesting for two reasons.  First, it gives you a glimpse into the Danish healthcare system.  And, of course, the study that showed that women who went through fertility treatments, but ended up childless were more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders.

I cannot imagine how my mental state would be if I found myself fifty years old and childless.  I'd like to say that I wouldn't fall apart, but maybe I would.  I have wanted to be a mother since I was a little girl.  If I wasn't able to have biological children then I know I would have adopted.

However, it's not always that easy.  When I was in college, I worked with a women who tried to take out a loan from a bank, so that she could adopt a child.  She was turned down time and time again.  I met her when she tried for the fourth time to adopt a little boy.  She was turned down.  She got a cat, dyed her hair black and didn't seem to smile for the rest of the summer.

The full article is here.

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope

Here are links to previous blog posts: 

I'll Have Another

A Mother's Fears

The Strongest Women

The Loneliness of Having Triplets

What is the "Right" Number of Children to Have?

The Baby Making Project: IVF

Acupuncture Improves Your Chances

Stress Kills Your Chances

Smoking's Bad

It's Not Your Lifestyle: Male Infertility

Grasping at Straws: Laptops Damage Sperm

The Holistic Approach to Infertility

Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer

Premature Babies Twice as Likely to Suffer Mental Disorders

Does IVF Increased Your Breast Cancer Risk?

Infertility Treatments Reach Success Close to Natural Conception

Women in their 30s-40s who go through multiple infertility treatments may be almost as likely to deliver a baby as women who conceive naturally, according to a new study.  The success of in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) was based on live births following a single treatment or cycle.  Now, researches have calculated the cumulative success rates for women undergoing several treatment cycles.

Here is the link to the full article.

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope

Here are links to previous blog posts: 

I'll Have Another

A Mother's Fears

The Strongest Women

The Loneliness of Having Triplets

What is the "Right" Number of Children to Have?

The Baby Making Project: IVF

Acupuncture Improves Your Chances

Stress Kills Your Chances

Smoking's Bad

It's Not Your Lifestyle: Male Infertility

Grasping at Straws: Laptops Damage Sperm

The Holistic Approach to Infertility

Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer

Premature Babies Twice as Likely to Suffer Mental Disorders

Does IVF Increased Your Breast Cancer Risk?

Here are links to chapter one of my book:

Chapter 1 (part 1)

Chapter 1 (part 2)

Acupuncture Improves IVF Results

I don't think acupuncture is really news to anyone who has done or is thinking about doing IVF.  However, now there is research to back up the claim that acupuncture increases the pregnancy and live birth rates of women who do IVF.

Apparently, there is a biochemical mechanism that researches found that increases fertility.  Electroacupuncture increases the blood levels of HLA-G (human leukocyte antigen) and in embryos for the patients in the process of IVF.  The presence of the HLA-G protein is predictive of higher pregnancy and live birth rates, as found during research conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Here is the link to the full article.

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope

Here are links to previous blog posts: 

I'll Have Another

A Mother's Fears

The Strongest Women

The Loneliness of Having Triplets

What is the "Right" Number of Children to Have?

The Baby Making Project: IVF

Stress Kills Your Chances

Smoking's Bad

It's Not Your Lifestyle: Male Infertility

Grasping at Straws: Laptops Damage Sperm

The Holistic Approach to Infertility

Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer

Premature Babies Twice as Likely to Suffer Mental Disorders

Does IVF Increased Your Breast Cancer Risk?

Here are links to chapter one of my book:

Chapter 1 (part 1)

Chapter 1 (part 2)