By Dr. Drew Moffitt

She broke the bread into two fragments, and gave them to the children, who ate with avidity. “She has kept none for herself,” grumbled the sergeant. “Because she is not hungry,” said a soldier. “Because she is a mother,” said the sergeant. – Victor Hugo

The other day I ran into another one of those patients that always makes me smile when I see her. She brought me up to date on what was happening in her life. It was a story of debilitating pain and multiple surgeries to try and relieve the pain. Instead of relief she developed a tumor in the area that required more surgery. In the end she was still in just as much pain and on chronic medications for it. I expressed my heartfelt sympathy for what she has had to go through. She smiled and said she’s fine and that she is almost off of the pain medications because she is planning to come to see me soon to try to have another baby. She was coming off of the medications not because she didn’t have pain, she was coming off of the medication because she wanted to have another baby. I looked into her eyes “ and her smile and realized I am a better person for knowing her.

Mother’s day is upon us. It is not that (more…)

By Dr. Marcus Jurema

Stress, especially chronic stress, is likely to play a negative role in fertility. When a couple tries to conceive, lack of sleep or stress at work or home may decrease the chances of having effective intercourse (at the time of ovulation), decreasing the chances of pregnancy. If this goes on for a prolonged period of time, couples begin to worry about being infertile, which in turn leads to more stress.

A woman’s reproductive system is quite advanced but it is tied to her brain via hormones in a relatively pre-historic way. In other words, if the female brain translates any external stimulus as “stressful” it goes into survival mode and secretion of reproductive hormones takes a back seat. Having said that, it is impossible to know if someone’s fertility is actually being hindered by stress unless clear signs are noticeable, like (more…)

Today on the blog, one of our Attain Fertility reproductive endocrinologists shares her thoughts on how to maintain HOPE during the infertility journey. Scroll down to view her messages of HOPE just for you. 

Have HOPE even after a failed IVF cycle:

• Have hope even after abnormal lab tests
• Hope, even when IVF is not recommended
• Share hope by donating your frozen embryos to others (more…)

By Dr. Estil Strawn

One of the most important things I try to explain to the overwhelming majority of my patients is this: women and men are generally not sterile or incapable of having children naturally (of course, there are some very rare exceptions). Having said that, there are some women without a functional uterus, ovaries, or fallopian tubes. There are also men that lack the appropriate anatomy to get a woman pregnant. For these individuals, having children naturally will not be possible.

In other words, I believe that the term infertility is overused. I prefer to use the term sub fertility for most of my patients. Sub fertility allows for hope. Sub fertility means (more…)

The tiny figure on the ultrasound screen danced to its own fetal rhythm, early legs and arms movin’ and a groovin’, up and down, back and forth, doin’ its happy dance for us.  Mom and Dad watched, fixated on their future daughter or son¦it was too early to know whether it was a boy or girl, but for sure, the kid’s got rhythm. Can you feel the movements? the father asked. The mother laughed, “No, but I know it’s there, it’s a feeling inside.

They had hoped and prayed for this moment. It took time and patience, tears and disappointments, but mostly it took a hopeful optimism and faith that they would be here at this moment, sharing in the joy of seeing their future son or daughter for the first time, their tiny happy dancer.

It is a special privilege and gift that I can share this moment with my patients¦to see their efforts pay off, to watch with them in awe and amazement as a new life dances to its own happy rhythm.

Several months from now (more…)