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Fertility Drugs
What You Should Know About Medications That Could Help You Conceive
By Michele St. Martin
A doctor generally prescribes 1 to 8 amps, although the amount used may be increased or decreased during the cycle, depending on follicle development. The cost for the injectible drugs is high. For one cycle, depending on the drug used, retail pricing and amount prescribed, an injectible cycle can cost between $2,000 and $5,000. That's just for the medication – monitoring, associated medications and cost of ART procedures are not included in this figure.
Some women and their families worry about a link between fertility medications and cancer. There have been several studies exploring whether or not women using fertility medications may have a higher incidence of ovarian cancer. No study has ever proven that this is the case.
About 20 percent of the women using injectible medications will become pregnant with twins, 3 to 4 percent with triplets and 1 to 2 percent with higher order multiples. In IUI cycles, many doctors will cancel a cycle if the woman produces a large number of follicles (thus increasing her chances of a higher-order multiple pregnancy). And for IVF, many reproductive endocrinologists follow the guidelines established by the Society of Advanced Reproductive Technology (SART), transferring only two embryos to a woman who is younger than 35 and three to a woman older than 35.
Following guidelines like these, along with careful physician monitoring of infertility patients, helps ensure that women who take fertility drugs do so as safely as possible. Infertility treatment is a hard enough experience without worrying that taking a high-tech path to parenthood is hazardous to your health.
* Last name withheld to protect privacy.
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