Fertility and Infertility For Dummies

This friendly guide combines professional and personal advice on every aspect of fertility and infertility. From deciding when to seek help and what help to seek, to the emotional, fi nancial, and medical considerations of fertility treatments, you'll be reassured every step of the way with all the support and specialist advice you need to increase your chances of a healthy and happy pregnancy.

Autorentext
Dr Gillian M. Lockwood BM BCh MA (Oxon) DPhil MRCOG is the Medical Director of Midland Fertility Services (www.midlandfertility.com). Gill was a late recruit to medicine. She read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and then worked as a Government Statistician. A television documentary encouraged her to change careers to Medicine and she qualified in 1986. A chance meeting with Professor Robert Edwards (the 'testtube' baby pioneer) introduced her to the science of IVF and since 1990 she has specialised in Reproductive Medicine.
For 10 years Gill was Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Lead Clinician at the Oxford Fertility Unit, where her research interests included polycystic ovary syndrome, premature ovarian failure, and recurrent miscarriage. She lectures and broadcasts on ethical and social issues in reproductive medicine, has chaired the British Fertility Society Ethics Sub-Committee, and is a member of the RCOG Ethics Committee. She is an Associate Editor of Human Reproduction and a member of the Editorial Board of Human Fertility. She has published over 30 'first author' articles in international journals and has contributed to many text books and review publications.
Since 2000 Gill has been the Medical Director of Midland Fertility Services (MFS), in the West Midlands. MFS is a 'nurse led' fertility unit at which the nursing staff perform all procedures required for IVF including surgical sperm retrieval (TESA), egg retrieval, and embryo transfer. MFS recently announced the successful delivery of the UK's first 'frozen egg' babies; a development that has given new hope of becoming 'genetic mothers' to the thousands of young women who each year have to undergo sterilising chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Jill Anthony-Ackery BA (Hons) is the Communications Manager at Midland Fertility Services. Jill is a relatively recent entrant to the world of fertility treatment, with responsibility for the communications and marketing of MFS since 2003, initially as a consultant public relations director and then as a member of the clinic staff since 2004. Her qualifications for such a role? A degree in art and film history (!) and 18 years' experience managing the reputations of client companies from a small UK trade association to international cosmetics, steel, and photographic equipment manufacturers. Oh! and also two years of ICSI treatment at MFS, during which she and her husband Gwyn conceived twins, suffered a miscarriage at around 12 weeks, then had an unsuccessful frozen embryo transfer, followed by a second full cycle, resulting in the birth of their daughter Connie in 2002.
When she returned to work in 2003, she combined her almost evangelical zeal about those miracle workers at MFS with her professional experience and patient perspective and got paid for doing so! It's a dream job where she continues to be inspired daily by the team and patients.
Jill has written countless articles in a range of newspapers, consumer magazines, and trade publications from many industry sectors. She was also the original editor and a contributor to Beyond the Lens, the business bible for professional photographers. In 2006, her work at MFS won a gold award from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and she works closely with national and regional press, television, and radio to satisfy the unquenchable media interest in assisted conception.

Jackie Meyers-Thompson is managing partner of Coppock-Meyers Public Relations/For Your Information Communications, and a 'professional' fertility patient.

Sharon Perkins is the nurse coordinator for the Cooper Center for In Vitro Fertilization in Marlton, New Jersey, one of the largest infertility centres in the United States. She previously worked in labour and delivery and neonatal intensive care.

Inhalt

Introduction 1

Part I: Making Babies as Nature Intended 5

Chapter 1: In the Beginning 7

Chapter 2: Taking Baby Steps 21

Part II: Planning a Pregnancy 43

Chapter 3: We're Trying! We're Trying! (to Get Pregnant) 45

Chapter 4: You, Your Fertility, and Your GP 71

Chapter 5: Great Expectations But: Early Pregnancy Loss 81

Part III: Tests and Investigations 95

Chapter 6: Moving on Up: Seeing a Specialist 97

Chapter 7: Finding the Female Problem: Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 .107

Chapter 8: It's a Man Thing: When Tests Reveal Sperm Problems 133

Part IV: Eureka! Possible Solutions 145

Chapter 9: Doing Your Homework: Researching Fertility Clinics and Funding Treatment 147

Chapter 10: All The 'I's: Introducing IUI, IVF, and ICSI 165

Chapter 11: Giving Mother Nature a Helping Hand: Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) 177

Chapter 12: Making Test-Tube Babies: IVF 189

Chapter 13: ICSI: It Only Takes One Good Sperm! 207

Chapter 14: 'Babies on Ice': Egg Freezing and Fertility Treatment 211

Chapter 15: Giving, Receiving, and Sharing: Egg Donor Treatments 219

Chapter 16: Creating an Embryo: Amazing Teamwork in the Lab 227

Part V: Post-First Cycle: How You May Feel and What You Can Do 241

Chapter 17: Waiting and Hoping: Surviving the Two-Week Wait after Embryo Transfer 243

Chapter 18: What's in Your Freezer? Frozen Embryo Transfers 261

Chapter 19: If at First You Don't Succeed: Trying IVF More than Once 269

Part VI: Different Strokes for Different Folks: Options for Non-Traditional Families 281

Chapter 20: Third-Party Reproduction: You and You and Me and Baby Make Four! 283

Chapter 21: Safe Options for Same-Sex Couples and Single Mums 295

Chapter 22: Ready-Made Families and Other Choices 305

Chapter 23: New Advances and Ethical Dilemmas 317

Part VII: The Part of Tens 333

Chapter 24: Ten Tips to Get You Through Treatment (and Keep You Sane!) 335

Chapter 25: Ten (Okay, Seven) Groups of Fertility Medications and Where to Find Them 339

Index 345