Helpful & Supportive Infertility Forums

12 BLOGS AND PODCASTS

Suggested and created by the #infertility community

You are not alone in your journey. Thousands of people from around the world share their experience in some form, online. You may find value in these different sites with content created by those experiencing infertility.

1. Triumphs and Trials. www.triumphsandtrials.com Written and curated by Melissa, married with one child, struggling with infertility for nine years.
2. Happiness Glass. www.happinessglass.com Infertility and fitness blog by Mallory, infertility warrior and enthusiast for solving problems.
3. Life Abundant. www.lifeabundant-blog.com Active blog by Jessi, with posts about her treatment and experience.
4. Smart Fertility Choices. www.smartfertilitychoices.com Resources and podcast by Kym, who both interviews guests and shares her own experience.
5. The Delinquent Stork. www.thedelinquentstork.blogspot.com By Karen, RESOLVE’s 2015 award for blog of the year.
6. Then Comes Family. http://www.thencomesfamily.com/community/#category-2 Online forum for couples and individuals coping with infertility.
7. Hope and Hopscotch. http://www.hopeandhopscotch.com/personal/ First person journal.
8. Beat Infertility Podcast. https://beatinfertility.co/ Heather interviews both people dealing with infertility and experts in the field.
9. RESOLVE Podcasts. http://www.resolve.org/resources/resolve-s-podcasts.html Archive of all of the podcasts from the National Infertility Association, with topics ranging from adoption to third party reproduction.
10. Don’t Count Your Eggs. http://dontcountyoureggs.typepad.com//blog/ About the journey on “Infertility Island”.
11. Waiting for Baby Bird. www.waitingforbabybird.com Faith-based infertility support blog by Elisha.
12. Sincerely Emma. www.sincerelyskin.ca/emma Blog that includes discussion on loss and secondary infertility.

The Virginia Center for Reproduction does not contribute to, regularly check, or in any way endorse the viewpoints of these sites. This is simply a list of infertility blogs that others have found valuable.

What is Infertility?

Approximately 85% of women will become pregnant within one year of trying. Only an additional 7% of couples will conceive in the second year. Based on these results, infertility is defined as the inability to conceive within 12 months.

The most common causes of Infertility are:

● Advancing Maternal Age: As women age, the number of eggs they produce and the egg quality decreases at a rapid rate.

● Ovulation disorders: Normal and regular ovulation (the release of a mature egg) is essential for women to conceive naturally. There are many disorders that may impact the ability for a woman to ovulate normally. The most common disorders impacting ovulation include PCOS (link to past written PCOS article). Ovulation can be detected by keeping a menstrual calendar or using an ovulation predictor kit.

● Uterine Fibroids: There are three types of fibroids and 40% of women have them. However, only submucosal fibroids reduce a woman's pregnancy rate. Submucosal fibroids can cause heavy periods, or bleeding between periods LINK TO PAST FIBROID ARTICLE

● Endometriosis: It causes infertility by producing inflammation and scarring in the uterine cavity. This can result in pelvic pain and affect eggs, sperm or developing embryos.

● Unknown: About 15% of couples can never pinpoint the cause of their infertility.

Luckily there are fertility treatments to help overcome Infertility:

1) Clomid, Tamoxifen, Letrozole (pill form) or Gonadotropins (Injectable): These medications help induce egg development and ovulation

2) Insemination: Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) is the process where sperm is washed and prepared for placement into the uterine cavity, bypassing the cervix and bringing the sperm closer to the tubes and ovulated egg

3) In Vitro Fertilization (IVF): IVF is the process where the woman's eggs are collected and then fertilized by sperm outside the body in a laboratory

When a couple decides to seek the help of a fertility specialist they will have a fertility evaluation. 

During this process the following will be conducted:

● Medical and Fertility History

● Transvaginal Ultrasound: An ultrasound is an important tool in evaluating the structure of the uterus, tubes, and ovaries. It can also detect any abnormalities like fibroids or ovarian cysts. Additionally, transvaginal ultrasound offers the opportunity for your doctor to assess the estimated number of available eggs (i.e your ovarian reserve).

● Laboratory testing: Blood work is conducted to measure blood levels of hormones like Estradiol, FSH and AMH (anti-Mullerian hormone), (related to ovarian function and overall egg numbers), TSH (assesses thyroid function) and Prolactin (hormone that can affect menstrual function if elevated), and Vitamin D.

● Hysterosalpingogram (HSG): This test is important in evaluating fallopian tubal patency, uterine filling defects such as fibroids and polyps, and scarring of the uterine cavity (Asherman syndrome). Many uterine and tubal abnormalities detected by the HSG can be surgically corrected. We have been performing HSG at our facility since 2009, and Dr Sharara has performed over 1000 HSGs.

● Semen analysis: The semen analysis is the main test to evaluate the male partner fertility concerns. There are many factors analyzed including:

1) semen volume

2) sperm concentration

3) sperm motility (movement)

4) morphology (shape)

5) WBC count

6) viscosity

If you are having trouble conceiving or have already been diagnosed with infertility and are in the process of selecting a fertility clinic, we invite you to visit read this article for an overview of options and factors to consider. Visit: http://vcrmed.blogspot.com/2015/04/how-to-choose-fertility-center.html