“My family
is very, very highly fertile, so, for me not to have a child is
just – I just didn’t understand why this was happening to me,” said
Lisa Smith of St. Louis. “We have been trying to conceive, my
husband Curtis and I, for about six to eight years now, until we
really found out what was going on.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Infertility – the inability to bear a child – can be an emotional rollercoaster for couples who want to have offspring of their own. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine says the long-term inability to conceive can cause significant feelings of loss for most couples.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We basically tried to wait for a while and get everything in order – the careers started, the homes, a plan of action for how we wanted our lives to end up, and the only thing that was missing for us was a child,” Smith said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>When you want to have a baby and you can’t, it seems as though family and friends are “super-fertile” – making otherwise joyous times of anticipation into occasions to internalize feelings of sadness, isolation and resentment.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Anger for me – when another family member of mine would conceive a child without even trying – it would make me sad to just hear about that,” Smith said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Visits home in Indiana and facing comments from unsuspecting friends and relatives just compounded the situation. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“When I would go back home, they would always ask, ‘Why don’t you have any kids? And it was just hurtful,” Smith said. “But finding out why, and our chances for conception now, Fertility Partnership has basically given us back that hope. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Doctors say female infertility can be caused by health issues, physical factors, hormone problems, lifestyle factors or environmental factors. The National Office on Women’s Health says two-thirds of the time, factors causing infertility are either from the male or female; and a third of the time the cause of the problem is unknown.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Dr. Elan Simckes, a fertility specialist at Fertility Partnership in St. Peters, said a higher incidence of tubal disease and fibroid tumors are the two main culprits for infertility in African American women. Smith starting going to his fertility clinic after having fibroids removed.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Smith will have embryos implanted this week after undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) in January. IVF involves introducing the woman’s eggs to her husband’s sperm in the laboratory; then returning the embryos into her body to grow and develop. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“You go through the whole whelm of emotions as far as the IVF cycle is concerned – all the medications that you’re on – the guilt of, ‘did I really wait too long to try to see what was going on for why we weren’t conceiving?’” Smith said. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Smith, like most women who are preparing for IVF, had to take fertility drugs to stimulate greater egg production.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“The injections are crazy. You basically have to wake up in the morning and take all this list of medications and inject yourself with a couple of different medicines,” Smith said. “It is nerve-wracking at first. You just put on that face and keep-it moving, because in the end, it will all be worth it.” “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>When undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART), Simckes said timing must align with natural events of a woman’s menstrual cycle. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We try to match the embryo’s development with the development of the lining of the uterus,” Simckes explained. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Normally, when a woman, has her menstrual period, she sheds her uterine lining and starts to grow a new one. That lining matures until in the middle of the cycle, when the woman ovulates.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“And then the lining changes again, but it starts to get prepared for that embryo,” Simckes said. “That’s a five to seven-day process, to get ready for that embryo to be able to implant.” “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The eggs are mature over the course of 10 to 14 days before they are retrieved.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We harvest them, and then three or five days later, we put them back in,” Simckes said. “If a woman is 38 and younger, we would be hard-pressed to put in more than two. If she is young – under age 35, we would entertain the possibility of putting in only one. Anyone over 38 and certainly over 40, we would potentially put in more than two – we might.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Simckes said African American women delay seek fertility treatment for a number of factors.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“My main reason for not seeking help early on was denial,” Smith said. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Cost is a major factor. Fertility treatments and procedures can run up a several thousand dollar tab, if it is not covered by insurance.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“You spend all that money and essentially, you are buying a dart to throw at a balloon. There’s no guarantee, and I think that’s very scary for anybody,” Simckes said. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>If all goes well, the Smiths would like to have three children. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“But not at the same time,” she said. “font-family: Verdana;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>For more information, visit fertilitypartnership.com or womenshealth.gov.
