Unexplained Infertility

Much has been said about the benefits of acupuncture for someone suffering through infertility. Of all the crazy, wacky things I tried to help me get pregnant -ingesting Mucinex and Robitussin, anything to do with kegels, holding my legs propped against the wall for an hour, and so much more - the one thing that I never pursued was acupuncture therapy. Knowing that I was desperate and literally willing to try pretty much anything, it is kind of surprising to me that at no time in the five plus years of trying to conceive did I even really seriously contemplate visiting an acupuncturist. I don't know if it was too new-age, alternative for my simplistic and medically conservative outlook… [more]

Even before my husband and I began to try to have children I knew that I could have fertility issues. I annually (at first) saw a gynecologist and had times when I turned to him for consult regarding one female issue or another. I was aware that I had irregular periods, heavy bleeding and painful cramping - all signs that female fertility problems can be present. My husband, on the other hand, had no real indication of if he could have a problem or not. He did not see a physician regularly and had no occasion to visit a doctor that could or would diagnose problems that could affect fertility. So, after a year of trying to conceive with no… [more]

I have mentioned in previous posts that the very first fertility treatment I tried was clomiphine citrate, more commonly called Clomid or Serophene. I was initially prescribed Clomid after my diagnosis of PCOS. Prior to starting the Clomid medication I had tracked my cycles and realized that I do not reliably ovulate each month - it was definitely hit or miss. The goal of Clomid is to induce ovulation and when I told my ob/gyn that I was not ovulating every month he assured me that Clomid had an excellent success rate and that he was confident that it would do the trick. He remarked that I would only be allowed to take the Clomid for six cycles, but told… [more]

Let's talk about S-E-X. When my husband and I first started trying to conceive we didn't give too much thought to timing and planning and the intricacies of human reproduction. When our "efforts" were not successful I began to really study my cycle and learn about peak days of fertility. At this point my husband was still excited about our venture, still thinking that this babymaking business worked out really well for him! Eventually, though, like a lot of couples, on-demand sex became very tiresome and our efforts dwindled to pretty much only when it was conceivable that a baby could result. Everyone I knew who was struggling with infertility were doing the same thing - tracking… [more]

According to RESOLVE, A National Infertility Association that is an excellent resource and support outlet, over three million Americans are affected by secondary infertility and in fact it has "a higher prevalence rate than primary infertility." Secondary infertility came onto my radar after I learned that a friend with a seven year-old child was struggling to conceive and had been trying for a sibling for her daughter for several years. I had never really given much thought to this very common problem, and if I am being honest was probably more often in the camp of "they should be happy they have a child." As I talked more and more to the friend suffering through Secondary Infertility I realized just… [more]

In this era of "octomoms" and families of 8 or 18 it is easy to understand how people can have misconceptions about infertility and its treatment. As I was searching for information and statistics regarding multiple births and fertility treatment (out of pure curiosity), I realized that there are A LOT of myths and misunderstandings when it comes to reproductive challenges and assistance. I, like a lot of other people, don't always know the difference between truth and fiction when it comes to infertility and so I thought I would use this blog as a forum to address some of those myths and try to find the truths. Probably one of the most prevalent general ideas about IVF… [more]

Unexplained infertility is a very frustrating diagnosis for many couples. According to the article Unexplained Infertility, 10% of all infertile couples have a diagnosis of "unexplained infertility," which is just a more professional-sounding way for a doctor to say, "You've stumped me."

As the article points out, some couples have nothing physically wrong with their reproductive systems but are just plain unlucky. However, in other cases, there is a reason for the infertility: Medical science just has not caught up with diagnosing the cause yet.

According to the article, couples with unexplained infertility have a one in three chance in conceiving over a three-year period with no medical intervention. Using fertility treatments can increase the odds of conceiving sooner. I have… [more]

One of the most frustrating parts of the fertility process is when your doctor becomes stumped by your inability to conceive. If each attempt to conceive has a certain chance of succeeding, then you should statistically conceive after a certain number of attempts. For example, if a particular procedure has 20% odds of succeeding, then five attempts ought to fix the problem, right?

I believe my doctor said our odds were 10% of conceiving with each intrauterine insemination (IUI). So, statistically, 10 attempts should have yielded positive results, right? We never conceived, even after 22 IUIs, which should have been more than enough to get the job done.

I have chosen to end fertility procedures twice. The first time, it was to adopt my… [more]