The Truth About Preimplantation Genetic Selection (PGS): More Than Gender Selection

Recently supermodel Chrissy Teigen and her husband, John Legend, announced they were expecting a baby girl with the help of in vitro fertilization (IVF). Ms. Teigen has candidly shared her infertility journey, and been a strong supporter of others struggling to conceive. However, a social media firestorm ensued once she disclosed she and her husband had selected a “little girl” embryo to transfer. What her detractors did not understand is that Ms. Teigen’s IVF doctors had used PGS to make sure her embryos were chromosomally viable. As a result, they also were able to learn the gender of the embryos....

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Endometriosis is Coming Out of the Closet

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month Endometriosis, shortened to #endo in Twitter slang, is coming out of the closet. Celebrities like Padma Lakshmi, Jillian Michaels, and Lena Dunham have spoken out about their endo diagnoses and are spreading awareness about this gynecological condition that affects approximately 176 million women worldwide, including five to six million in the U.S. Ms. Dunham, star and producer of the millennial television hit “Girls,’ recently announced she was taking time off to deal with her illness because of its severity. We applaud her candor because not many women want to admit to excruciating menstrual cycle symptoms....

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Altered Sex Ratio after IVF. Is it real?

You may have heard that after IVF you are more likely to have a boy. There is some truth to that. During an IVF cycle, the embryos are cultured for a few days in the laboratory before they are transferred back into the woman’s uterus. The day of transfer is not set in stone, and you can put the embryos back any time between the 2nd and 5th day without comprising pregnancy rates. Extending the duration of culture allows the embryos to progress to the “blastocyst stage” which typically occurs on day 5. There are some advantages for some patients...

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Dr. Potter Interview: How Chrissy Teigen Chose Her Baby’s Gender

Following IVF treatment, model Chrissy Teigen is pregnant with her first child with her husband, singer-songwriter John Legend. She has been facing backlash on social media since she announced that they chose to have a girl by transferring a female embryo. “Not only am I having a girl, but I picked the girl from her little embryo,” Teigen told People magazine. Read the full story on Fertility Authority.

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The Connection Between Heart Disease and Infertility

February has been designated as American Heart Month, an occasion for health care professionals to provide education and awareness about the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in this country for both men and women. Why is an infertility physician writing about heart health awareness? Female infertility patients, whose median age is around 36 or 37, might not think heart disease applies to them at this point in their life. They’re focused on getting pregnant rather than developing cardiovascular disease decades down the road. Their male partners too are probably not thinking about the dangers of heart...

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