|
|
 |
 |
|
Overcoming Infertility
Having a child, for many women, is a lifelong dream. But actually having a baby isn't always the stuff that dreams are made of. It can sometimes be the nightmare called infertility. For many couples it can be a journey that brings as much sorrow as it does joy.
HOST V/O
LAURIE COUTRER (koo trer) is a healthy, active wife / who loves tending to her horses / when she's not at her job as an information technology specialist.
Laurie Coutrer
I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for someone to say, "I think you're infertile."
HOST V/O
Understanding and protecting a woman's fertility depends on a delicate combination of lifestyle, medical conditions, and her partner. (pause) Added to that is the race against the proverbial "biological clock".
HOST V/O
Specialists say that if women under the age of 35 have been trying to get pregnant for a year without success, there may be fertility issues to deal with.
HOST V/O
Dr. Bryan Cowan is an infertility specialist at The University Of Mississippi Medical Center.
Dr. Cowan
The most common causes of infertility in women are first endometriosis, second tubular disease, and third ovulation defect.
HOST V/O
Chalmydia a sexually transmitted disease if left untreated can also lead to fertility problems. However, it and the most common causes of infertility in women can be diagnosed through a series of tests. And may be treatable. Even before testing takes place, women can be on the lookout for signs that may point to fertility problems.
Dr. Cowan
Keep track of her menstrual calendars. If the menstrual cycles are 35 days or longer, she needs to call that to the attention of her doctor really, fairly soon.
NAT SOUND
Hi, I'm Dr. Denker, nice to meet you.
Hi Dr. Denker.
HOST V/O
Since age is a leading factor in fertility, women, who are over 35 and have been trying to become pregnant for 6 months or more, may want to visit their ob-gyn. Dr. Mark Denker is a reproductive endocrinologist who specializes in infertility in Boca Raton Florida.
Dr. Denker
As a women get older, their fertility goes down. And by the time a woman is 37, she's lost about 80% of her eggs.
NAT SOUND
I'll tear this off and I'll give it to you
HOST V/O 10.13 Sec.
Once infertility has been identified as the problem there are several treatment options, but they can be very expensive and many insurance companies don't cover the costs.
HOST V/O
Although statistics vary, on average women account for 55 percent of the fertility cases, male problems account for 20%. In the remaining cases, it's either the couple's complex problem, or no specific reason is found at all.
HOST V/O
For Dalia Berlin, owning her own interior design business in Miami was just one of her lifelong dreams. She also wanted to have a large family.
Dalia Berlin
I wanted a large home. I wanted all the kids, I want to live right near the school, I want the kids to come here and play, I want to have the children.
HOST V/O
But five months after they were married, Dalia's husband Charles was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and needed to undergo chemotherapy, a medical cancer treatment that often results in sterility.
Charles Berlin
After the biopsy, the doctor told us we needed chemotherapy, we're young and if we are interested in having kids, we need to go ahead and right away and freeze some sperm.
HOST V/O
Although they took what they believed to be appropriate measures, they still faced infertility issues. And so their journey began. It would entail years of different fertility treatments, tests and disappointments.
Charles Berlin
I guess the hardest part was I know how much pain and struggling it was for Dalia. And it was much as she wanted children, and you know she probably wanted children from day one, here it was, I was the one delaying her from having the children.
HOST V/O
Through determination and despite false hopes, Dalia and Charles were able to conceive.
Dalia Berlin
After waiting all day, I finally get this great phone call and it was the phone call that I had been waiting for and they just said, "Dalia, you are pregnant."
HOST V/O
However, they soon found that struggling to get pregnant was just the first part of the battle.
Dalia, like many other women being treated for infertility, suffered a series of miscarriages, including twins.
Dalia Berlin
Here I've had 7 years of losses and losses and losses and all I want is a wonderful family.
HOST V/O
In addition to the physical side of infertility, there is also an emotional side that needs to be addressed as well.
Laura Coutrer
You know I'm not sure what I'll gain at the end of this. If it's not a child I think I'll gain some inner feelings. I thought at first that it had kind of put a wedge between my husband and I because we were so stressed out. But I actually think we've actually become closer.
NAT SOUND
Really, a lot of providers come to meetings
HOST V/O
Peer support groups can help couples throughout the entire infertility process. Elise (a leese) Linder is an active member of one of the groups known as Resolve.
Elise Linder
Resolve is a national organization that provides support to couples going through infertility. There are many resources available to couples: there are group counseling, peer support, help line services, as well as advocacy opportunities. And couples like Dalia and Charles come to Resolve looking for information, looking for support.
HOST V/O
For some couples, the future is uncertain. But, for others, like Dalia and Charles, the journey is complete.
Their struggles and hard work have resulted in two beautiful boys, Adam and Ivan.
Dalia Berlin
The joys that each one of them added to our life, and everyone around us and I take them everywhere and people just look at the baby and they're just, you know, it makes us smile.
HOST ON CAMERA TAG
Not all infertility is treatable. More than 6 million Americans have problems with fertility. For many, adopting children may be the best approach to having the family they've always wanted. And for the adopted child, there is not greater gift than a loving family. Anywhere from 2% to 4% of American families include an adopted child.
HOST V/O
About 14% of couples in the United States are infertile.
|
|
|
