Birth abnormalities due to fertility treatment

I have previously answered the question if fertility treatments work.

I think that there is some more information that should make you rethink assisted reproductive techniques (ART). A study by Jennita Reefhuis shows that kids born through IUI and IVF are 2-4 times more likely to have birth defects like heart problems, cleft lip, cleft palate and abnormalities in the esophagus or rectum.

Obviously there are several caveats but the major takeaway from this is to let Nature do its magic, try not to have a baby during advanced maternal age, and there are plenty of kids waiting to be adopted.

Clay Aiken gay dad

After Ricky Martin became dad with the help of a surrogate mom, yet another gay celebrity Clay Aiken has also become a dad. Yes, he also used a surrogate, but unlike in typical cases like this one, when you have to pay the surrogate mother, his platonic friend Jaymes Foster decided to carry the child for him and she became pregnant through in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The two will also raise the child together and the son's name will reflect both parents and is being called Parker Foster Aiken.

By the way, he is one of those Evangelical Christians and plans on following his faith despite strong hatred for gays among Born Again Christians and strong opposition to their becoming parents or adopting children, despite overwhelming data that they are excellent parents.

Naomi Campbell pregnancy

One of the biggest challenges that college-educated, ambitious women face is that they have to balance work and life and have to make choices that can come to haunt them later. While the best time to get married (the right age to get married, according to several studies, is late 20s) and have children is in your late twenties to early thirties, career-minded women do not have that freedom.

And with all the commitment phobia among men, long-term relationships and marriages ending up in divorce 50% of the time, is not rare to see a woman end up close to 40 with no child.

And we all know that pregnancy after 40 is nearly impossible without IUI or IVF or some other kind of fertility treatment, and even if that happens, there are higher possibilities of genetic disorders.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is one such woman who is now 38 and realizes that she does not have children. It turns out that while she was not actively trying to get pregnant, though, the Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin will definitely prove to be a rich father the way Salma Hayek landed a rich father Francois-Henri Pinault for her daughter. What she learned recently that she was technically infertile until a surgery corrected it. Now she is saying that she is ready to start a family.

The message here is that if you are not getting pregnant after trying for 12 months, it is time to seek fertility treatment.

IUI, IVF for lesbians

The sad reality is that despite all the small advances made by gays and lesbians, they are openly discriminated in all walks of life. Homophobia is actually on the rise, largely driven by Republican politics and hatred created by many Christian groups.

The case of Guadalupe "Lupita" Benítez highlights how the name of Jesus Christ can be used by so-called Christians to find an excuse to discriminate. That is exactly what these so-called doctors Christine Brody and Douglas Fenton were doing. They belong to the same category of Christians who supposedly value life but strongly support death penalty. Similarly, they want to protect the institution of marriage but are fighting strongly against gay marriage laws.

The decision by California Supreme Court means that hopefully doctors will stop telling you why you cannot be a mom and do what their job is, that is, to dispense medicine. I wouldn't be surprised if something did not go right because the pharmacists already have the right to deny you your legally prescribed medication because their so-called God tells them not to.

While the last thing on a couple's mind when they are trying to become parents (particularly after 40 when each day matters) is a lawsuit but if you have to do it, it is worth it. Lupita's fight paid off. She is now a happy mom.

Do fertility treatments work?

When a woman is unable to get pregnant particularly after she is 40, it is natural for the couple to get desperate. That is when the greedy fertility treatment industry starts to exploit them. While many such couples may be able to pay for the outrageously expensive assisted reproductive therapy (ART) with the help of their insurance company (it is mandated by law in those cases), others will have to come up with tens of thousands of dollars on their own, often through financing with high interest rates.

Most people borrow this money and can get stuck in a cycle of debt for decades or even declare bankruptcy, often without becoming parents.

The so-called fertility doctors (and a whole industry that now includes acupuncturists, yoga teachers, natural medicine doctors, personal consultants, etc.) are in great position to exploit the desperate people. If the couple gets even technically pregnant, they take all the credit, and keep pushing them to try again (often more money, though, to trap them they will give some discounts not available to first-time patients).

And if you do not get pregnant, then they put all the blame on you. "You are too old, your eggs are no good, your husband has low sperm count, your husband has low sperm motility, etc.," they say.

Well, if you are one of those people that are desperate to have your own child but are unable to get pregnant, here is a piece of news that may save you tens of thousands of dollars.

According to research published in the British Medical Journal, use of drugs like Clomid and artificial insemination is no more useful than trying to get pregnant naturally. These fertility drugs also have serious side effects, chances of multiple babies is high (it may appear like great news to have more than one baby when you struggled to have just one, but these pregnancies are complicated with risk of death for both the babies and mother and higher possibility of development complications in children) and long-term effects on a woman's body, particularly menopause, are not yet known.

I can understand why it is tempting to undergo treatment. You feel that you are doing something and trying really hard, but trust me, the best way to try really hard is to hole up with your spouse in your bedroom.

So are IUI and IVF worthwhile?

No. They only make sense when natural pregnancy is impossible, for example, when using donor eggs or sperms or using a surrogate mother or when the fallopian tubes are blocked.

Men infertility

Until now it was believed that if a woman over 40 was trying to pregnant and she was not having success it was because her eggs were just too old. Unless a man had a low sperm count, the thinking was that the man had nothing to do with infertility.

Not any more. A new study suggests that if a couple is unable to conceive it is because the man is over 35. The probability of a pregnancy drops further if he is past 40.

Such advanced age couples (the medical term for couples who are too old for having healthy babies), even if they get pregnant, are more likely to suffer from miscarriages or have babies born with genetic disorders. (Related: How to get pregnant after 40)

So what are the options for these mature couples?

In the past, it was recommended that a woman choose donor eggs and a whole fertility treatment industry evolved in countries like the Czech Republic. Now it seems that unless you are a mature woman married to a younger man, donor eggs may not be the best idea for an IVF.

The best alternative would be to adopt a child or get a surrogate mother using both donated sperm and egg, if necessary. The world is already populated and unless you are an Albert Einstein or Virgin Mary or Mozart or Picasso there really is no need for you to reproduce.