FertilityLifeLines.com is offering a FREE 48-page booklet entitled, In the Know: What No One Tells You About Fertility

The 48-page girlfriend-to-girlfriend booklet was created to address this gap in the current resources available to couples seeking information about infertility. The booklet covers the broad range of issues that couples face when struggling with infertility, including a description of infertility in males and females, how to cope with the emotional stresses of infertility, an overview of the treatments that are available and resources that can provide couples with information to navigate the costs of treatment.

Want one? Just register at the Fertility Life Lines website. Don’t worry. You can opt out of receiving newsletters or more info if you only want the booklet. (That’s what I did.)

From their website: Fertility LifeLines™ is a free, confidential, educational resource that provides customized information and support to people with fertility health concerns. A single phone call can put you in touch with customer service representatives, benefits specialists, and fertility nurses. Fertility LifeLines™ is provided by EMD Serono, the leader in fertility health.

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But don’t forget about that other Friday Freebie! You have until July 31st to enter to win a $40 Fertility Scope from  Miracle Light Labs.

Post from: Blisstree

Freebie Friday Bonus! Free “In the Know” Booklet from FertilityLifeLines

In celebration of the event, I want to remind my readers that in addition to their online resources and forums, the National Infertility Association RESOLVE actually offers two different types of “real life” support groups – one led by mental health professionals and a more informal peer-support group often known as “coffee and conversation.”

RESOLVE understands that,

Making the decision to join a RESOLVE group can be difficult for some people. It may be the first time you have ever been in a group and you may wonder if you will become overly emotional in the group and too vulnerable to others. Remember that most people feel insecure about joining a group! But, keep in mind that a group, whether it be professionally led or peer led, will help you feel less isolated, empower you with knowledge and validate your emotional response to the life crisis of infertility. Also, a recent study found that attendees of RESOLVE support groups had higher pregnancy rates.

If you’re looking for some one-on-one advice, you can find a mental health professional who understands the psychological and emotional aspects of reproductive health through American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)’s Mental Health Professional Group. Why go see a mental health professional? ASRM’s 2-page FAQ sheet talks about the why and what a MH professional might be able to help you do.

But if you’re still feeling a little shy, I invite you to find support as you work through your fertility issues online. Or, perhaps you just need to know that you are not the only person trying to navigate what should be a simple path towards parenthood: Cyclesista is a great place for that.

When we first started to explore assisted reproductive options, what was important to me was to know that we weren’t just spinning our wheels and that there were people out there who were now proud parents with a little help from some friends (and good reproductive endocrinologists). And I can’t thank Melissa enough for leading me to them. No matter which stage you are in on your journey, you can bet you will find someone to connect with on Stirrup Queen’s Completely Anal List of Blogs that Proves That She Missed Her Calling as a Personal Organizer.

So, what are you waiting for? Get Connected!

Post from: Blisstree

Get Connected for Mental Health Month

Why am I telling you this? Besides the fact that there seems to be a great lineup of speakers, it is FREE!

Yes, completely free. The conference runs from 8 am to 4:30 pm and your free admission includes breakfast and dinner.

The following information is from www.fertiledreams.org:

If you are trying to start a family, but have questions, reproductive health and adoption experts will be available to answer questions on the latest advances in as well as adoption.

Fertility and adoption experts include:

Alice Domar, PhD, Director, Mind/Body Services, Boston IVF, Assistant Professor, Ob/GYN and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School – Dr. Domar will speak about the connection between stress and infertility.

Marc Hughes, PhD, MD, Director, Genesis Genetics Institute, Detroit – Dr. Hughes will discuss advances in IVF.

David L. Keefe, MD – Professor/Chairman, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of South Florida, Tampa. Dr. Keefe will discuss recurrent pregnancy loss causes and treatments.

Ricardo Loret de Mola, MD , Reproductive Endocrinologist & Infertility Specialist, Assistant Professor of Reproductive Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland – Dr. Loret de Mola will discuss fertility in women over 35.

Sejal Patel, MD, Reproductive Endocrinologist & Infertility Specialist, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Orlando – Dr. Patel will speak on Advances in Reproductive Surgery.

Laurel Stadtmauer, MD/PhD, Reproductive Endocrinologist & Infertility Specialist, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk – Dr. Stadtmauer will speak on third party reproduction (egg donation, embryo adoption and surrogacy) as well as polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Stephen Shaban , MD, Male Reproductive Urologist, North Carolina Urological Associates, Chapel Hill – Dr. Shaban will discuss male reproductive issues and various treatment options.

Charlotte H. Danciu, Attorney, Delray Beach, Florida – Ms. Danciu, practices family and reproductive law, will discuss adoption, gestational and traditional surrogacy, and embryo donation.

Lori Fraas, licensed clinical social worker and president of Adoption Support Services of Florida, Orlando – Ms. Fraas will discuss paths to successful adoption and affordable adoption.

Nicole Witt, MBA, The Adoption Consultancy, Brandon, Florida – Ms. Witt will discuss paths to adoption

Space is limited, so they recommend that you register online at www.fertiledreams.org or by calling 407-672-1106.

Fertile Dreams, Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to empower those touched by fertility issues through prevention, education, and advocacy. It is committed to redefining public perceptions of infertility by facilitating dialogue, dispelling myths, and championing for fertility rights, thereby eradicating the stigma that exists today.

I would love to know if any of my readers were planning to attend. Please let me know!

Post from: Blisstree

4th Annual Paths to Parenthood Conference

The journalist Cheryl Miller contacted me after reading this post about another article in the media which I felt treated us “baby-desperate” folks far too unkindly. But halfway through our hour-long conversation, I was wondering where this new article would be headed and if I were just fueling the flame for yet another essay on us wacky men and women who allegedly think about nothing other than babybabybabybabybaby.

All of this worry over an article which, after all of that, only mentions me twice. In passing.

Phew!

And rather than being something scathing, judgmental or worse salacious or misleading, I found Ms. Miller’s piece to be pretty well-informed. In fact, I even learned a few things. I would love to know who coined the phrase “repro lit.” Have you ever heard that term before? I completely related with Ms. Miller’s attempt to decipher one blogger’s profile description, filled with acronyms and coded phrases – because when I began reading and writing blogs related to trying to have a baby a year or so ago, I found myself lost in this new language as well. And I found her raising questions that I often think about myself.

I haven’t listened to her interview about the article yet. How is it?

Post from: Blisstree

“Blogging Infertility” and What It All Means

More interesting than the show’s recap is the discussion taking place on Oprah’s message board right now. There were your customary comments voicing outrage, disgust or both. Some faithful viewers were a little chuffed at the sensational nature of the show, more fitting for Maury or Springer, they said. Others were annoyed at what they saw as nothing more than self-promotion (Beatie has a book coming out shortly). There is discussion around the definition of terms – “man” vs. “transgendered woman.”

[I admit I have not made it through all 137 pages (and growing) of comments, at least not tonight. But that's only because I'm losing steam and it's getting late. I may pick this back up in the a.m.]

I’m curious – if you watched the show, what do you think of the issue and do you think it was a topic “worthy” of Oprah’s time and attention? Should this be news, or no?

Post from: Blisstree

A Story “Worthy” of Oprah?

The first is one called Daily Strength. If you’re feeling like you need an outlet, someone to talk to, basically, a free therapy session, this is the place for you. Sign up (free) and join a community, send a hug, read some of their message boards – I’ve signed up for two myself – infertility and the Hodgkin’s Disease support groups. You can be as anonymous or as obvious as you prefer. It’s a nice site with easy navigation and news tickers with RSS feeds relevant to the topics you choose. Think of it as a MySpace with a point. This one gets a thumbs up from me and will be added to the blogroll here in just a sec…

The next site is targeted toward a more specific audience. The Donor Conception Network is a self-help network of 1,000s of families created with the help of donated eggs, sperm or embryos; couples and individuals seeking to found a family this way; and adults conceived using a donor. This website is a gold mine of materials and information for anyone thinking about, in the process of or successful users of donor eggs, sperm or embryos. Especially wonderful are the FREE “Telling and Talking” booklets available from the site which address a number of issues such as:

* Anxieties about ‘telling’
* Facing fears and overcoming them
* The best age to start ‘telling’
* Language to use for babies, little kids, bigger kids, teenagers and adults
* How children’s development affects what they understand and how they respond
* Talking with the school and family and friends
* Telling if a known donor has been used
* Telling following the ending of anonymity for donors

There are four different booklets aimed at parents of children aged 0-7; 8-11; 12-16; and young adults. (And as my adopted brother and I can attest, the earlier the telling happens, the better.)

I am thankful both of these new bookmarks and hope they’re useful to you as well.

Post from: Blisstree

Find Infertility (and other) Support Online

If you are looking to learn more about personal experiences with assisted reproduction techniques, adoption, surrogacy, in vitro fertilization, third party reproduction, pregnancy or living with infertility, I can’t think of a better cheat sheet than Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters’ Creme de la Creme of 2007.

Each year, Melissa invites bloggers to nominate their favorite post from their own blog. This list represents what bloggers themselves have chosen as their most meaningful, most relevant, most heartwarming and/or heartbreaking post of 2007. While some of the blogs are familiar to me, many aren’t. I have just started working my way down the list and I am already in search of a warm and quiet place in my apartment to curl up and read the rest.

Speaking of reading, Cindy Margolis’ book Having a Baby…When the Old-Fashioned Way Isn’t Working: Hope and Help for Everyone Facing Infertility is finally available for sale today. I was lucky enough to score an advance copy – look for a review tomorrow!

Post from: Blisstree

The Best Infertility Blog Posts of 2007

Here in the world of fertility, diabetes most directly affects things on the men’s side. According to a May 2007 report published in Human Reproduction:

Men with type 1 diabetes may have more DNA damage in their sperm, possibly hampering fertility, a preliminary study shows.

Male factor infertility sometimes still feels like a taboo subject. Something few men, or their partners, for that matter want to discuss, even in the anonymous blogosphere. There is certainly no dearth of writing from us females, but male partners dealing with either their own or their partner’s infertility issues are pretty scarce. Luckily, a few do exist. I have rounded up some of the most current ones and added them to the Fertility Notes blog roll today. Welcome Offsprung, Mr. Frank N. Beans, Mission: Baby and Smarshy.

Post from: Blisstree

Today is World Diabetes Day

One of the high-risk occupations not mentioned is Soldier. Yet, being activated for duty carries enough risk to the future of one’s family (I feel this could win an “understatement of the year” award), that in 2003, this sperm bank offered a significant discount to members of the military being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. According to this AFP article:

Many have done so not because they fear they will be killed but because of the risk they would be injured or exposed to chemicals during deployment which could affect their fertility.

Flash forward to 2007 – Kathleen Smith is the proud mother of a 15-month year old, born using IVF and the frozen sperm of her husband, who was killed two years before his son was born. Wow.

While this case seems to be to be a natural conclusion to a couple who had been planning to have a family, earlier this year, a Rachel Cohen was granted permission to extract sperm from her son’s dead body and use it to inseminate a willing surrogate, thus granting the deceased the son he always said he wanted, and, of course, an heir for the family. Currently,

Preparations are under way to inseminate the woman chosen by the Cohens, a 35-year-old unmarried economist who has declined to be publicly identified.

Stories such as these tend to make some folks, who are uncomfortable with donor eggs or sperm in the first place, even more uncomfortable.

What are your thoughts?

Post from: Blisstree

More Than Just Memories