My husband and I were married for 6 years before we started trying to have a baby, and essentially got pregnant on the first attempt. Unfortunately, I miscarried in the second month. Our doctor told us not to worry; we tried again, got pregnant again, and miscarried early again. We still weren’t particularly worried, but had some tests performed and nothing in particular seemed to be inhibiting fertility. Over the next 5 years we went through phases of trying and not trying as we moved twice to accommodate dual careers, worked with 3 different fertility specialists in 2 states, negotiated a variety of insurance policies, endured the gamut of fertility tests, and suffered 3 more early miscarriages. Along the way I also struggled with mild depression, and guilt that perhaps the stress and travel associated with my job was the culprit, but we generally remained optimistic that we would someday have a baby.

Gradually we attempted more intense treatments, from Clomid to ovulation induction injections to intrauterine insemination (IUI). When our second IUI attempt failed last spring, our hopes really started to fade. I was 36, and while my husband and I are blessed with the resources to try several assisted fertility cycles, there were limits to what we could withstand financially and emotionally. Although I liked my doctor (a specialist at a teaching hospital), the support staff seemed to be in flux, the office environment had a high chaos factor, and I didn’t feel as though my particular case was significant to them.

On the recommendation of my primary care physician, I set up a consultation with Pacific Fertility Center and met with Dr. Ryan. I was immediately encouraged by the thorough review of my history and finally felt that someone was really listening to me, unfortunately this is not a given with all practices. After discussing a range of options it was crystal clear to me that we should try IVF with PGD, in order to screen the embryos (since we had experienced so many early miscarriages). We figured even if PGD told us that none of the embryos were viable, at least we would have valuable information about our next steps.

We embarked on a cycle of IVF this past winter, and with each successful step of the cycle, were amazed and encouraged. When the results of PGD came in we found that the majority of our embryos had a chromosomal abnormality, but several also appeared perfectly normal. We transferred 3 embryos, and I’m delighted to report that I’m now in the 5th month of my pregnancy (one baby, a boy, due in August). So 6 years after we began our quest for a baby we see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, and it is an amazing feeling. We can’t thank PFC enough for their combination of expertise and compassion. They restored our confidence and hope.

– Name withheld upon request

Tags: IVF - In Vitro Fertilization, Miscarriage, PGD - Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 4th, 2004 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Patient Odyssey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.