Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a condition that affects a woman’s menstrual cycle, fertility, hormones, insulin production, circulatory system, and appearance. Women have both male and female hormones, but women who have PCOS have higher levels of male hormones and experience irregular or absent menstrual cycles and small cysts on their ovaries. It is estimated that 5-10% of women who are of child bearing age have PCOS. Women with PCOS who become pregnant may experience more health problems than the general population including: High blood sugar levels which can lead to diabetes Pregnancy-induced high blood pressure MiscarriagePremature delivery Pre-eclampsia (high...
How Yoga Benefits Fertility
What is Yoga? Developed over 5,000 years ago, yoga combines the physical practice of postures, known as “asana,” the breathing practice called “pranayama,” and meditation. Yoga literally means “union” and the goal of practicing is to create a union and a harmony between the body and the mind. As you go deeper into your practice of yoga and develop each of these aspects, you will start to see and feel the benefits, such as an improved physical fitness, mental clarity, greater self-understanding and awareness, stress management, and a general feeling of calmness. Fertility Yoga Yoga specifically for fertility is a...
How Stress Affects Your Body
Stress and Fertility In 1998, at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in San Francisco, California, Alice Domer and her colleagues from Harvard University presented the results from their study “Impact of group psychological interventions on pregnancy rates in infertile women.” The study concluded that stress reduction increases pregnancy rates in couples being treated with assisted reproductive technologies. Therefore, stress reduction is important to boost fertility and increase pregnancy outcomes with assisted reproductive technologies. What happens to your body when you get stressed? In an acute state of stress such as almost getting into a car...
Fertility Preservation in Cancer Patients
As frightening as a cancer diagnosis is, learning that you will never be able to have children can be equally devastating. In fact, just a few years ago, women undergoing cancer treatments had limited to no options at all for preserving their future fertility. Unlike men, who have long been able to bank sperm for future offspring, egg freezing has traditionally yielded low pregnancy rates. Thankfully, that has changed. Due to new groundbreaking laboratory techniques, frozen eggs now have high survival and fertilization rates–giving women more options than ever before for preserving their fertility. Today, women cancer patients can choose...
Today’s Video: What is a Semen Analysis?
Dr. Isaac Kligman, a New York fertility doctor with the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility in Manhattan, explains how a semen analysis is done and evaluated as part of a fertility workup.
Wasted (Infertility-Related) Hours of My Life That I Want Back
So, what were we talking about? Oh right. How I’m perhaps a mite disproportionately bitter about the changing of the clocks/losing an hour sleep debacle … And how many infertile-related hours in our lives we would like to have…
Am I Infertile?
Infertility is often defined as not being able to get pregnant after one year of steady, unprotected intercourse if a woman is under the age of 35; or six months if she is over 35. Infertility affects both men and women equally….
How Much Sperm Is Enough?
So often in life we are told that more is better. Sometimes there is a sufficient number or size, but because of the ?bigger is better? philosophy we overlook this. read more
The Egg Donor Connection
In order to set the stage for Part l of this story, I want to share a a bit of my personal background in order to describe my role working with both my donors and our intended parents. read more