Sharon Perkins - Getting Pregnant For Dummies

113 117

114 118

115 119

116 120

117 121

118 122

119 123

120 124

121 125

122 126

123 127

124 128

125 129

126 130

127 131

128 133

129 134

130 135

131 136

132 137

133 138

134 139

135 140

136 141

137 142

138 143

139 144

140 145

141 146

142 147

143 148

144 149

145 150

146 151

147 152

148 153

149 154

150 155

151 156

152 157

153 158

154 159

155 160

156 161

157 162

158 163

159 164

160 165

161 166

162 167

163 168

164 169

165 171

166 172

167 173

168 174

169 175

170 176

171 177

172 178

173 179

174 180

175 181

176 182

177 183

178 184

179 185

180 186

181 187

182 188

183 189

184 190

185 191

186 192

187 193

188 194

189 195

190 196

191 197

192 198

193 199

194 200

195 201

196 202

197 203

198 204

199 205

200 206

201 207

202 208

203 209

204 210

205 211

206 212

207 213

208 214

209 215

210 216

211 217

212 218

213 219

214 220

215 221

216 222

217 223

218 225

219 226

220 227

221 228

222 229

223 230

224 231

225 232

226 233

227 234

228 235

229 236

230 237

231 238

232 239

233 240

234 241

235 242

236 243

237 244

238 245

239 246

240 247

241 248

242 249

243 250

244 251

245 252

246 253

247 254

248 255

249 256

250 257

251 258

252 259

253 260

254 261

255 262

256 263

257 264

258 265

259 266

260 267

261 268

262 269

263 270

264 271

265 272

266 273

267 274

268 275

269 276

270 277

271 278

272 279

273 280

274 281

275 283

276 284

277 285

278 286

279 287

280 288

281 289

282 290

283 291

284 292

285 293

286 294

287 295

288 296

289 297

290 298

291 299

292 300

293 301

294 302

295 303

296 305

297 306

298 307

299 308

300 309

301 310

302 311

303 312

304 313

305 314

306 315

307 316

308 317

309 318

310 319

311 320

312 321

313 322

314 323

315 324

316 325

317 326

318 327

319 328

320 329

321 330

322 331

323 332

324 333

325 334

326 335

327 336

328 337

329 338

330 339

331 340

332 341

333 342

334 343

335 344

336 345

337 346

338 347

339 348

340 349

341 350

342 351

343 352

344 353

345 354

346 355

347 356

348 357

349 358

350 359

351 360

352 361

353 362

354 363

355 364

356 365

357 366

358 367

359 368

360 369

361 370

362 371

363 372

364 373

365 374

366 375

367 376

368 377

369 378

370 379

371 380

372 381

373 382

374 383

375 384

376 385

377 386

378 387

379 388

380 389

381 390

382 391

383 392

384 393

385 394

386 395

387 396

388 397

389 398

390 399

391 400

392 401

393 402

394 403

395 404

396 405

397 406

398 407

399 409

400 410

401 411

402 412

403 413

404 414

405 415

406 416

407 417

408 418

409 419

410 420

411 421

412 422

413 423

414 425

415 426

416 427

417 428

418 429

419 430

420 431

421 432

422 433

423 434

424 435

425 436

426 437

427 438

428 439

429 440

430 441

431 442

432 443

433 444

434 445

435 446

If you’re dealing with infertility, you may feel alone, confused, and depressed over the potential loss of the dream you’ve cherished since childhood: the dream of having a baby of your own.

Infertility is a medical problem for 6–8 million Americans. Deemed a disease by the World Health Organization but debated as a symptom by many professional organizations, insurance companies often deny coverage for its diagnosis and treatment. Many people (the “just relax and you’ll get pregnant” crowd) don’t understand its biological origins, and a few (the “take this magic pill and you’ll get pregnant, guaranteed!” group) even exploit those suffering from it. There is good news on the infertility front, however; not only are medical treatments for infertility making great gains, but there’s also more awareness of the emotional and social effects of infertility. In fact, most reproductive medicine centers like to call themselves fertility centers now.

Getting Pregnant For Dummies was conceived by combining Jackie Thompson’s knowledge of infertility from a patient’s viewpoint, Lisa Rinehart’s wealth of information as an infertility nurse and reproductive law attorney, and Dr. John Rinehart’s 40 years of clinical practice in reproductive medicine. We wrote this book so that patients dealing with infertility will know that they’re not alone and what they may be up against. We hope it finds its way to the bookshelves and nightstands of all the patients who need it to help find the road to their baby.

This book is our attempt to help those of you who want to walk into the doctor’s office and not walk out feeling out of control of your own fertility. Our vision is to provide fertility patients — both those at the starting line and those closer to the finish — and the people who love them with as much information as we can on the options available to them. We discuss topics ranging from the scientific to the spiritual.

You can read through this book from front to back and feel confident that you can find the answer to just about any fertility issue, from natural family planning to cloning. But if you’re like most people, you’ll probably look through the table of contents, zero in on the chapters that affect you, and jump directly to them. This book is meant as a resource, which means that you can go back to it whenever a new issue or question arises and find the answer you need without reading through everything that comes before.

This book is meant for people with every degree of fertility expertise, from the novice to the jaded, been-there-done-that patient. The no-tech and low-tech fertility chapters come first, so you can skip them if you’re already a veteran and move right into high-tech and really high-tech stuff found in the second half of the book.

We intersperse personal stories throughout the book; these (we hope!) make interesting reading from the viewpoint of either Lisa (an infertility nurse/attorney), Jackie (an infertility patient), or Dr. R (the IVF doctor). If you skip them, you won’t miss any essential information, although you may miss a few humorous sidelines or “I did it, so you can too” stories.

To help you pick out information from a page, we use the following conventions throughout the text to make elements consistent and easy to understand; the last thing we want to do is confuse you!