A current hot topic in both fertility and pregnancy is progesterone--and for good reason! It is an essential and important part of pregnancy. In this conversation Dr. Lucky Sekhon, an REI specialist, we discuss several of the important topics related to progesterone!
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The path to conception is not so straightforward for some, and intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a common route to successful conception. I recently spoke with REI specialist, Dr. Kenan Omurtag, about the what, when and why of IUI.
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Infertility grief and trauma is not a topic often discussed. However, when we don’t discuss topics like this, especially ones that affect our mental health and well-being, we risk never being able to offer healing to those who need it. Learn more!
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I recently did a podcast interview with Nic and Vic of "Coco Caliente" podcast. They discuss their 20-week anatomy ultrasound and give pregnancy updates. I discuss my own journey through pregnancy, and my passion for educating women who are over 35.
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I recently did an interview the Dr. Aimee of "The Egg Whisperer Show"! We discussed all things pregnancy and childbirth after age 35 and answer some very important questions. An REI and MFM specialist led to some excellent discussion!
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I was recently interviewed by Lindsay & Matt of "Going There: Taboo Topics Are Back On The Table" podcast. They share their experiences of fertility treatments and having a miscarriage, and we also discuss the expectations of making babies & the stigma of infertility.
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Invocell is the first and only FDA-cleared option of its kind used in fertility treatment” and it uses the woman’s body as an incubator for fertilization. This helps with cost reduction and also allows the woman to be an even greater part of the entire process.
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Watch as Dr. Clark and her husband, Rene, announce their pregnancy! After 5 failed cycles of IVF, they conceived twins via donor egg! This very special announcement is the reason why Babies After 35 exists!
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Between 5% and 10% of women of reproductive age (18–44) are affected by PCOS. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, PCOS may affect girls as young as 11 who haven’t even had their first period.
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Would you be in safer hands if your doctor had the same illness as you? We hear from a dermatologist with a skin complaint, a psychiatrist with depression, an oncologist who survived cancer and a maternal fetal medicine specialist who couldn’t conceive.
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Like many women, I led a fit and healthy lifestyle, spent my twenties exploring the world, focused on my career and waited to find ‘Mr Right’. During this time, I wasn’t too concerned with starting a family.
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First thing first, acknowledge it sucks.It hurts, causes frustrations, anger and grief. It hurts really bad especially when you waited so long and been through so much in the quest to have a baby. Know that it is extremely normal and okay to mourn.
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Whether or not you want babies, your fertility can be a window into your overall health. Here’s a puberty-to-menopause handbook covering the facts of life every woman needs to know.
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Endometriosis hurts when fertility treatments fail. While powerful and expensive treatments like IVF often can overcome infertility caused by endometriosis, it is very clear that endometriosis interferes with ovarian response, egg and embryo quality, and embryo implantation.
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The other day, I saw a new patient in my office. She was 39 years old, healthy, a successful career woman, pregnant for the first time — and scared to death. After trying for two years to conceive, she had finally done it.
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I knew from a very early age that I wanted to go to college and have a career. It wasn’t until my sophomore year in college, though, that I made the decision to pursue medicine — a career path that would ultimately take 15 years of my life to accomplish.
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If you have difficulty conceiving, it’s comforting to know that IVF is an option. The process involves money, hormones, self-administered shots, and a lot of emotional highs and lows. And it doesn’t help that people don’t really know how to act around you...
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I am a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who takes care of women with high-risk pregnancies. But when an unexpected journey through infertility became my reality, my professional and personal worlds were turned upside down.
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Five cycles of IVF yielded one chromosomally normal embryo that did not survive the transfer this past May. I have a picture of my “could’ve been” on my nightstand. I have accepted the fact that I cannot have my own biological children, but I will never ever get over it.
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I think what has made surrogacy such a rewarding experience for me is that not only do I get to enjoy pregnancy and childbirth without expanding my own family, I also get to bring joy to couples who often have walked a very painful road; a road familiar to me, which makes it extra rewarding.
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In January 2016, the CDC released National Vital Statistics System data on U.S. Births from 2000-2014. In this report, a few important statistics stood out. First, the mean age of a woman having her first child rose to 26.3 in 2014 (up from 24.9 years in 2000).
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Cortisol, the body’s primary “stress hormone” is a very strong blocker of many other hormones. Although cortisol also does many GOOD things, it is also a central driver of our physiological stress response. Why is this? It’s simple actually.
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If you read part one of this three-part series, you have a good understanding of one of the most common ways stress alters fertility through abnormal cortisol production. Read this article to learn more!
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OK, so if you read part one and two of this three-part series, you have a good understanding of THREE primary ways stress alters endocrine function via cortisol and sleep pathways. Now learn about the final two!
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44 year-old actress, Gabrielle Union has recently opened up about her fertility struggles. As a woman who once thought she never wanted kids, she now finds herself longing to conceive and in the midst of a painful journey to become a mother.
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As a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist, I care for women with high-risk pregnancies. Many times, they have pre-existing medical conditions that make them high-risk; other times they develop a complication during pregnancy that warrants the care of a high-risk obstetrician, like myself.
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I’ve been going through infertility treatments for two years now, but no one has really held back from telling me they’re pregnant, asking pregnancy advice, or inviting me to pregnancy-related events.
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I took a special interest in pregnancy after the age of 35, which according to age alone, is considered a high-risk pregnancy. I was inspired not only by the experiences of friends and patients, but also by my own personal experience of trying to start a family after the age of 40.
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Actress Gabrielle Union and her husband, NBA star Dwyane Wade, shared how hurt they were when, after the birth of their daughter in November, commenters online ridiculed Union for posting photos of herself practicing what’s known as skin-to-skin contact.
Read MoreLast week I was contacted by a health reporter to discuss the recent birth of Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade’s daughter. I expected the topic to be infertility, pregnancy via surrogate or gestational carrier or motherhood after 35.
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Founder, Innovator, Facilitator, Educator, and Mom, Marna Gatlin has many titles. Her knowledge and passion are captivating as she works tirelessly to educate, advocate, and provide support for families touched by or considering egg donation.
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A woman is born with all the eggs she will ever have in her lifetime :: FACTA female is born with 1-2 million eggs. At puberty she has 300,000-500,000,at age 37 she has 25,000, and age 51 she has 1,000 eggs left.
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As an African American woman, a Black woman, I had no one to talk to about my infertility because in my community infertility was, and still is, a taboo subject. It is commonly perceived that Black women are just naturally fertile and are only childfree by choice.
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The best thing my husband ever said to me after multiple IVF disappointments is, “We are in this TOGETHER.” Maintaining a strong, healthy relationship during times of tribulations is what will make that end result even sweeter.
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As a high-risk obstetrician, I should have realized the significance of that milestone in my life, but I didn’t. Like many career women, I put my career plans first and had convinced myself that NOT having children would be OK.
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Factors that determine if a woman is a good candidate for IVF how long she has been unable to conceive naturally, her age, her overall health status, inability to conceive with other fertility treatments, a family history of genetic abnormalities and pregnancy loss history.
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All too often popular culture makes IVF seem like the miracle cure-all for fertility problems, especially as women age. We are bombarded with images of glowing celebrities in their 40s, or even older, cradling their baby bump or with a “miracle” newborn in their arms.
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As a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist, I deal with all things pregnancy-the good, the bad and the complicated. As a result, I have diagnosed and counseled many women over the years with a positive pregnancy test but never had a pregnancy develop.
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We discuss that PGT testing is not perfect and estimates are that when an embryo is identified as normal through PGT it is accurate about 97-99% of the time. The challenge is when embryos are identified as abnormal.
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Deciding if, and when, to have a child is a very personal decision. Now, thanks to advances in reproductive medicine, that decision doesn’t always have to be restricted to the “ideal” child bearing years – either by parameters set up by science, or society.
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Counseling can greatly improve the lives of individuals and couples struggling with infertility in a number of ways. Infertility is a major life crisis that is often unrecognized. Taking care of emotional health is as important as taking care of physical health during the process.
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As a fertility specialist, the conversations in my office are never dull, but when a couple is faced with infertility, our conversations can become quite overwhelming. Despite one’s best intentions, the pressures of life leave many of us creating our families later and later.
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So many things need to line up just perfectly for conception to be successful, so we want to be sure and control as many factors to ensure success. Listen as Dr. Clark explains how stress can affect fertility!
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Fortunately, infertility has made me stronger in some ways. Although it has been by far the toughest thing I have ever had to go through, I know myself well. I know I will be OK no matter what happens. I want you to know that.
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On the eve of my fertile window, I am full of apprehension. I know that trying to conceive often conjures up all sorts of emotions and even a visceral response not only for me, but for so many women.
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Ob/Gyn Shannon M. Clark, M.D., an associate professor of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch and founder of BabiesAfter35.com, knew she wanted to be a mom. But she didn’t anticipate that her road to parenthood would be so rocky.
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Many infertile patients, are erroneously advised by their physicians to first try IUI several times before resorting to IVF. It is important to be aware that such an approach is often ill-advised as there are circumstances where IUI is very unlikely to be successful.
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For many people trying to have a baby in their late 30’s and early 40’s, the journey can involve a few unexpected twists and turns. The journey might involve multiple IUI and IVF cycles and eventually result in exploration of using an egg or sperm donor or gestational carrier or surrogate.
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I am an intentional mother and accidental writer. I always knew I wanted to be the former; I never imagined I could be the latter. One day my fertility journey collided with the literary sphere.
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When asked about acupuncture or herbal therapy, I no longer say, “It’s not going to hurt. You have nothing to lose.” I now recommend without hesitation that anyone going through infertility treatments consider using acupuncture and/or herbal therapy during their journey.
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As a doctor who’s been doing this for over a decade, I want to give you my top 9 tips for how to be the most prepared patient. Why? Preparation will help set the stage for your best retrieval experience. Any why wouldn’t you want that?!
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These days in vitro fertilization (IVF) is so common that the stigma has virtually vanished; many people feel comfortable sharing that they went through IVF. But donor-egg IVF is a different story.
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Although advances in assisted reproductive technology have changed the landscape of reproduction for older women, it has also led to confusion about when having a baby is no longer possible and exactly what limitations in vitro fertilization can overcome.
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Many women, especially black women, have a similar experience of shame, depression, and anxiety around infertility. Infertility is not something to be ashamed of though. If it is your dream to be a mother, then I assure you that you have a right to that opportunity.
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I knew that trying to become a first-time mom at 40 would be tough. My fears were realized when my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Although that loss was devastating, I had no idea just how much more disappointment I was about to experience.
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Unfortunately, for many career women who delay child-bearing, it is a hard slap in the face when receiving a diagnosis of infertility after they cannot conceive naturally later in life; I was one of those women.
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As Parijat Deshpande, a leading mind-body health specialist, says, “Trauma is not about WHAT happened, but HOW your body experienced it. Trauma is when too much happened too soon and too fast. Trauma does not heal with time.”
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If you have been trying to get pregnant and have not been able to, it’s time to have a pelvic ultrasound. Information gained during a pelvic ultrasound can tell you what the problem may be. The uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes can all be assessed with a pelvic ultrasound.
Read MoreWhen most people think about infertility, they usually imagine a childless couple anxiously trying to conceive their first baby. In reality, fertility problems can affect anyone at any time. Secondary infertility can be caused by many of the same conditions that contribute to primary infertility.
Read MoreCheck out the products for TTC through parenthood in the Babies After 35 Amazon shop, online courses and other services that come "Dr. Clark-approved"!
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