Some patients are hesitant to pursue fertility treatment out of a fear that hormone treatment might harm their health.  This is a fair concern, after all, we are putting women's ovaries and endocrine system through abnormal pressure.  Is that harmful?

 

IVF has been performed since 1978 and hormone manipulation to promote fertility since the 1960s.  We've been studying women who have undergone fertility treatment in many ways, over many studies, over many years.   I follow these studies closely so:

 

One thing that drives me bonkers is smelling marijuana in public.  I don't much like the smell and you can never figure out who is smoking it so you can't avoid it.  Tobacco smokers are really obvious - they are usually in pairs, standing outside a government building or a bar. You smell the smoke and see the cigarette.  For some reason, marijuana isn't like that.  The smell is dense and icky and you can't figure out where it is coming from, well, at least I can't.

 

I don't read fiction very often.  I read scientific journals, non-fiction works, autobiographies and the like.  I'm not much for the un-real.  I've never been invited to join a book club and would certainly decline the invitation unless it was for non-fiction works (or there was good food or wine, in which case I would fake it).

 

In reproductive medicine we face ethical dilemmas regularly.  Nearly every week we navigate questions about treating when the chance of success might be futile, when the treatment might pose risk that exceeds the benefit, when patients ask for care that is outside of societal norms, and more.

Are we going to hell in a handbag? My mother thought so, mostly because I had terrible manners, poor posture and listened to music that was too loud.

My parents made me suspicious of insurance. They weren't necessarily optimistic people, but they just felt they could handle bad outcomes themselves and didn't trust that insurance help with be forth coming in the event of a disaster.

Happy 2019! Looking back at my blogs, it seems the most popular ones are the simplest. The ones where I attempt to explain the every day questions of infertility.

"Will I love the child?" "Will I be able to bond with them?" I get asked this a lot by women considering using an egg donor. These questions are heart-breaking. I often get a lump in my throat when I'm asked these questions because I know the place they are coming from.

There are few things as terrifying as bleeding in pregnancy. Even a spot, or a pink tinge on the

Should I do PGT-A? I get asked this every day. About 1 in 4 of the patients I see need to

I'm about 35,000 feet up en route to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) confere

Please don't google "endometrial scratch." Ok, you probably just opened a new browser window and

I'm on vacation. When I walked out of the clinic on Tuesday many people commented "don't think abo

In IVF we create embryos by fertilizing eggs with sperm.In IVF we create embryos by fertilizing eggs

I love getting on the latest bandwagon. I'm a pretty early adopter of trendy stuff like when ever