- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- preconception articles
- preconception q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
The Fertility Waiting Game
5 Tips to Occupy Your Time
By Teri Brown
Hurry up and wait seems to be the mantra of fertility treatments. With so much riding on each treatment, many couples find the waiting interminable. "I found the waiting during fertility treatments to be unbearable, especially when pursuing a first child while our friends were easily adding their second, third, etc.," says Michele Cervone Scott of Downingtown, Pa. "Each month I would think, 'This could be our month,' only to learn that our attempts at conception had failed. I hated the thought of yet another month of trying to conceive. We soon changed our focus to adoption."
Dr. Kris Bevilacqua, a clinical psychologist, has devoted his life to counseling couples going through assisted reproductive treatments. He says waiting is exacerbated during the fertility process because women typically have only 13 cycles per year. "If one month gets missed, you end up waiting another three or four weeks," he says. "A month can be missed because a lab test hasn't come back to the doctor, a doctor doesn't have an appointment available, etc. For women with irregular menstrual cycles, the waiting can be even longer. Also, the best reproductive endocrinologists are sought after, so sometimes getting an appointment isn't easy."
According to Dr. Bevilacqua, many gynecologists who aren't reproductive endocrinologists will give patients Clomid or suggest treatments that aren't appropriate, which can waste time before a patient goes to a reproductive endocrinologist. Some reproductive endocrinologists are somewhat conservative as well, not wanting to move to invasive treatments like IVF before other possibilities are exhausted. All this can mean frustrated months of waiting before obtaining pregnancy or even finding out if pregnancy is possible.
Want to see more?
Comments
There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to 
|
Post As:
|
||
| Enter your comment below: | ||
| Title | ||
| Comment Text | ||
| CAPTCHA | ||
| Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection. | ||