May 21, 2012

Case of the month June '08: Episode #7

Click here for episode 1 The pregnancy test was negative again. As sad as this is, let’s temporarily depart from the obvious emotional aspects of this failed cycle and tackle the decision process scientifically. Caroline is 35 years old. She was presumed to not have ovulated regularly by virtue of her consistently negative ovulation tests. [...]

Failed IVF. What now?

In-Vitro Fertilization is the gold-standard treatment for infertility. Even so, it is nowhere near 100% successful. In general, it’s about 20-50% successful and in a very good case scenario, one can have expectations of 60-80% success. Because it does represent the ultimate in treatment, it is especially devastating when a cycle fails. I often have [...]

Case of the month June '08: Episode #6

Click here for episode 1 Caroline and Darryl have been trying to get pregnant for almost two years now. The most obvious problem is Caroline’s failure to ovulate. First, she was started on metformin to correct address her insulin resistance. Then she was tried on a combination cycle of Clomid and injectables. She didn’t grow [...]

UK maintains policy against anonymity of sperm donors

It’s probably no coincidence that the UK’s policy removing anonymity from the sperm donation process has resulted in a shortage of donated sperm. It’s also probably no coincidence that we RE’s in the US are seeing more and more patients who come to us from Europe for their treatment. In the US, anonymity is safe [...]

Case of the month June '08: Episode #5

Click here for episode 1   UPDATE: Caroline and Darryl are infertile. Caroline has had regular periods, but her ovulation kits don’t turn positive, leading us to suspect an ovulation problem. She underwent one monitored cycle where she received medication to help her ovulate. In that cycle, she not only took Clomid, but also injectables. [...]

The nature of trust: Part 2 – Trusting your doctor

In a previous post, we discussed the general concept of TRUST. It might be helpful to read that before reading today’s piece. Now we’re ready to zero in on the specific topic of trusting doctors. How do you come to trust your doctor? Well, how do you come to trust ANYBODY? Simple. You take a [...]

Case of the month June '08: Episode #4

Click here for episode 1 Summary: DARRYL and CAROLINE have been infertile for 19 months. The most likely cause is Caroline’s failure to ovulate. This was suspected because her ovulation testing always remained negative, despite the unexpected finding that she has fairly regular periods. Caroline’s ovulatory problem seems to be a result of PCOS and [...]

Case of the month June '08: Episode #3

Click here for episode 1 There are many things I love about being an RE, one of which is the chance to participate in the transformation of peoples’ lives, as they go from having no baby to suddenly becoming happy parents. That one is pretty obvious. Besides that, there’s another thing that I like and [...]

Case of the month June '08: Episode #2

Click here for episode 1 Darryl and Caroline are here for their first consultation. After breaking the ice and warming up to each other, we tackled some of the potential problems that could be contributing to their infertility. One red flag was the fact that Caroline has never had a positive ovulation test, despite taking [...]

Natural cycle IVF

Dear Dr. First of all, thank you for blogging online! I’ve found your website very resourceful and fun-to-read! I even liked your writing style very much!  I’m a 32 years old female, trying to conceive in the past two years. We have been diagnosed as unexplained infertility with everything appears to be normal. Now we [...]