Shake it baby
Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. I’ve decide to go back to school and have been very busy with making that happen. I will be starting on Tuesday and I’m both excited and nervous. It’s been 22 years since I’ve officially sat in class. I do attend Judaic lectures from time to time and I read a lot so my brain cells are not totally dead 
. We will see how it all goes.
In the news, I came across this interesting article on a new development regarding embryos during IVF treatment. Apparently shaking the developing embryos helps them to grow more cells than leaving them still in a petri dish. The method they developed more closely mimics what would happen to an embryo in a woman’s body. It has so far only been tested in mice but looks very promising.
First ‘Viagra baby’ turns 10 years old
Doctor Geoffrey Sher, from The Sher Institute, was the pioneer to use Viagra to help a woman conceive. Rene Danford had been trying to conceive for several years and had been through several unsuccessful IVF treatments at a fertility clinic that advised her that she would never be able to carry her own baby because her uterine lining was too thin to support implantation of an embryo.
Doctor Sher gave her Viagra suppositories to increase the blood flow in her uterus which would then thicken her lining. In conjunction with IVF, she was able to conceive this way and went on to have a successful pregnancy. She also had a second child 2 years later using this same method.
The baby maker
This article from the Guardian, UK talks about an acupuncturist in the UK making great strides in helping infertile couples. She’s having amazing success with older woman using their own eggs and they are conceiving naturally. Gives us all hope.
Mom gives birth after embryo mix-up
A woman, who underwent IVF treatment and had another woman’s embryo erroneously transferred to her in a lab mix-up, has given birth to a baby boy. I can only imagine how difficult the pregnancy must have been on her emotionally. It is very admirable that she was willing to carry the baby to term only to have to give him up to the biological mother.
Move over Octomom, here comes some competition *Updated*
A teacher is pregnant with a record-breaking 12 babies. Whether she will be able to carry them to viability still remains to be seen… Amazing stuff none the less.
Update: According to Momlogic this women might just be a fraud who isn’t even pregnant at all. Hmm.
New Way to Track Ovulation
Our good friends over at the UK have come up with a new device to help track ovulation. They are promising 12 months and you are pregnant or your money back. The device is called DuoFertility, a state-of-the-art fertility monitor, that records a woman’s temperature up to 20,000 times a day. There is also a hot line to help you determine the readings. This device isn’t cheap though – 495 pounds. That’s close to $1,000!
I’m a little skeptical that this device will be such a cure all. Sure timing of intercourse is important, but if a woman doesn’t ovulate or eggs don’t reach maturity without the aid of drugs, she’s kind of out of luck. Of course this can also do nothing for male factor infertility.
New method for preserving eggs
One of the problems of infertility treatments has been the difficulty of freezing and thawing human eggs. It’s much more complicated than freezing sperm or embryos. But, successfully freezing eggs could bypass ethical issues caused by freezing and storing embryos.
Now, Houston scientists are testing a better method of freezing eggs.
A Culprit in Infertility, Overlooked Yet Treatable
I came across this article I found that talks about a condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or C.A.H. The symptoms are somewhat similar to PCOS and some PCOS patients may have CAH as well. It is very treatable with the use of steroids but an often overlooked condition in the field of infertility.
Single Dads by Choice
First of all Happy Fathers Day to all dads and want to be dads!
I came across this article from The Times In India. It goes into detail how men are now seeking to become single dads through the use of donor eggs and surrogates. It’s not just women who are no longer willing to wait for the right partner to become a parent.
Miracle Baby
A woman in the UK had a miscarriage misdiagnosed, had a D&C and the embryo still managed to survive. She thought she had miscarried and only found out she was still pregnant at 10 weeks gestation. Her daughter was born healthy despite her having had a D&C, taken painkillers, antibiotics, appetite suppressants at the time when she thought she wasn’t pregnant. Amazing story.
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