From: cah@pdx.csd.mot.com (Chris Huey)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: in vitro, or not in vitro?
Date: 15 Sep 92 20:12:10 GMT
Article-I.D.: pdxvme.1323
Organization: Motorola CSD, Beaverton, OR
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

To "V", or not to "V"?  That is a very good question.  I can offer my own
$.02 from the male perspective (ladies, feel free to add your feelings...)

Curt Kolovson (kolovson@hplabsz.hpl.hp.com) wrote:
: Pardon me if this is a FAQ, but we have been told to consider in vitro 
: fertilization by my wife's OB/GYN.  Does anyone have any experience with 
: this?  I've read about it, and heard things second-hand -- all of which leads
: me not to want to try it.  It costs about $10K a pop (so to speak), and the
: odds are only about 1/3, so the avg cost for a pregnancy is likely to be $30K.
: There's also a lot of nasty things to be prepared for, like having them go 
: in and terminate some of the developing embryos if too many are making it 
: in the early stages.  

1.  Yes, it is expensive.  Our specialist runs around $6-7K per cycle (which
    includes the shots (helps if you can give 'em - or if you have a nurse
    for a friend), the "harvesting" whereby they go in and extract the ovum
    from the uterus (not real pleasant for the woman), the ultra-sound exams
    every few days (to see if the eggs are "ripe"), the blood tests, the HSG,
    etc., etc., etc.  If you can be with your wife through the whole process,
    it really helps;  I believe that your support improves your odds.  There
    were husbands at our clinic that would not even accompany their wife
    during ANY of the procedures.  

: 
: My wife is 41, I'm 35, and we've been trying to have children for about a 
: year (since we've been married).  My wife did get pregnant last December, but
: unfortunately it ended in a miscarriage.  We've been trying since then, but 
: no luck so far.  I know this is fairly "normal", and that we should probably 
: just keep trying and not resort to in vitro, which is my inclination anyway.
: We have been trying lesser things up till now (we do the BBT charts, tried
: the "ovulation predictor kits", she's been taking clomed for several months, 
: and we tried artificial insemination the last 2 months, all to no avail).  

I am 42, my wife is 39. We've been trying to have children for 10 years and
the only thing we've had any luck at all with is adoption (which is not going
terribly well at the moment, but that is another story about congress and a
little known piece of legislation called the "Indian Child Welfare Act" which
seems to put the interests of the child in the wrong place.  Sorry, I didn't
mean to get started on that).  We've tried all of the above plus 4 major
surgeries to no avail.

: 
: Personally, I have very little faith in "medical technology" and "infertility 
: specialists" in general.

Obviously we haven't had any success but do know of others that have.  Medical
technology in the infertility field has advanced considerably on the last 
10 years to where we at least have a small chance (where we previously had 
none).  "Infertility specialists" have advanced also (but this really depends 
upon the specialist; I'm not sure how you would find a good one; perhaps 
check with your local university med school to see who is most up-to-date.

: 
: Any in vitro experiences?  Thanks in advance,
: 
: 	Curt

I hope this helps.  'Course, a little prayer doesn't hurt either.

-- 
Chris Huey                             Motorola Inc., Computer Systems Division
cah@pdx.csd.mot.com                                                            
Voice: (503) 644-4346                  ... uunet!apple!motcsd!mcspdx!cah
"In the beginning was the word, 2 bytes long, aligned on an even boundary."