Stories of Hope: Yvette

Yvette and her partner Charles had been trying off birth control for three years when they came to see us. They had only been actively trying for the last year, but Yvette is 37. She was worried that her fertility window was closing soon and wanted our help.  

After several rounds of tests and discussions, we agreed that IVF was the best treatment option for Yvette and Charles. We started by taking both Yvette’s eggs and Charles’ sperm and creating an embryo outside of the womb. Through this process, we were able to seven embryos, which wasn’t a lot but enough to get started. We then froze these embryos while we gave Yvette hormone injections. She also had to have her blood drawn everyone week to make sure her body was ready for the injection. After a month, we were ready to insert the embryos into Yvette’s uterus, and because it is not a guarantee that they will take, we decided to put two in there. We waited three weeks, but a pregnancy test showed that the injection did not take.  

Yvette was devastated, but eager to try again. We had planned to do another two embryos, but in the preparation phase, Yvette got very sick and we decided not to move forward with the injection. A few months later, we restarted the process again, with the two embryos, but again they did not stick. 

At this point, Yvette was defeated. They had just three embryos left, but they were running out of time and money. Yvette and Charles decided to take a break and see if they could find meaning in their life without a child, but after about six months, they came to us again. They told us they had to try one more time, and this time we would use all three embryos. After about three weeks since the injection, Yvette had a scheduled appointment to come in to see if she was pregnant, but she couldn’t help herself and decided to take an at-home pregnancy test. And, two pinks lines revealed that she was indeed pregnant.  

Yvette and Charles are now the proud parents to a little boy, and they also adopted a little girl. Their patience and strength was astonishing, and they couldn’t be happier parents.  

Infertility

Each spring we host an Infertility 101 class at our clinic. This is a simple introduction into infertility for woman and couples who may be struggling to get pregnant.  

We started hosting this class a few years ago, and it’s become incredibly popular. We are actually considering doing two a year now because of the demand. This class is a way for people to get out of what they hear from friends and family, as well as online sources, and learn from actual people. Our specialists are there to talk about some of the basics as well as answer any questions. We even allow people 15-minute personal chats with the specialists to discuss their own journeys. Additionally, we bring in patients from our clinic who have been able to get pregnant and those who have not.  

It’s an all-day event complete with lunch and booths from some of our partners. We hope to see you at our next event!

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Our Commitment to Women

Janet was 17 years old when she got pregnant. Her boyfriend said he loved her, and then he dumped as soon as she told him the news. Janet’s parents were extremely unhappy with her and sent her to live nuns in upstate New York until she had the baby. The little girl was ripped from her mother’s arms and adopted by a couple she would never see again.  

That little girl, named Nora, never meet her birth mother but she knew how much her parents loved her. They had prayed and prayed for a baby of their own, but they could never conceive one of their own. They found the nunnery, and although they did not like the treatment of the mothers, they were desperate for their own baby, and so they went one day and came home with Nora.  

Nora grew up to be an incredibly bright student, volunteering with women’s organizations throughout high school and college. Nora believed the best way she could help people was becoming a doctor, and so she went to medical school. She decided to study gynecology to devote her life to women.  

Throughout her gynecology practice, Nora met hundreds of women who just wanted to have a baby but could not get pregnant. It was so devastating to hear these women’s stories and not offer them more.  

One day, Nora was searching online and came across PTS, and saw a fertility clinic in her city that was for sale. She researched the clinic, which was started by a woman and her husband who were never able to have a child of their own and were ready to retire. She met with the couple and their staff and fell in love with the practice. She began working there a few days a week outside of her own practice, and she became so enamored with the patients, she decided to buy it.  

Today, our fertility clinic is here to help families learn more about their fertility and continue down the path to being pregnant. Women are at the heart of our practice, meaning they are treated with care and the prime decision makers in their health. We never push treatments on to people, and we are honest and open about the challenges that come with fertility treatments. We also refer our patients to other services that might be beneficial during this time, such as counseling, chiropractic, massages, and financial advisors.  

We know infertility is not an easy path, so we are here to help.

Stories of Hope: Cara

Cara is 32 and has been trying to get pregnant for two years. In that time, she has had two miscarriages, both of them specifically heartbreaking. Tests showed that her eggs were in fine shape along with her husband, Dave’s, semen. Doctors gave her a diagnosis of “unexplained infertility.” As you can imagine, this was heartbreaking for Cara and Dave. They decided to meet with one of our infertility specialists to learn more.  

The first thing our specialist did was listen to Cara and Dave. She wanted to make sure they felt entirely comfortable with her and that they could ask her absolutely anything. Next, we decided to run some basic tests.  

Cara was getting a lot of advice from friends, family, doctors, and online websites about what she should do. She knew that IVF worked and thought that that had to be the next best thing for them. However, there are many other fertility treatments out there, and what worked for one person may not work for another. That’s why it’s important for specialists to really listen to the couple, find out what they want, and do tests that give real solutions. When our specialist talked to Cara, she understood that Cara was very afraid of doing IVF, and thought it was the only way to get a baby. Our specialist assured her that isn’t the case and said they would try other things before going to IVF.  

Our specialist began with a hormone assay on Cara which included meant she had to get her blood drawn every other day for the most accurate readings. With that information, we assessed that her progesterone levels were low, which is often linked to infertility and miscarriage. From there, we put her on hormone injections. It wasn’t always easy for Cara to give herself these shots, but she did it like a champ. We also made sure she was consuming a healthy diet with plenty of supplemental vitamins. Just four months later, Cara and Davide conceived, and today, they are the parents to a healthy baby girl.  

Cara’s a good example that each couple is different so each treatment should be different. 

Is Fertility Treatment Right for You?

You know that you want to have a family. It’s what you have always dreamed about, holding a little baby in your arms, rocking them to sleep at night. However, you’ve been trying for months – doing everything the blogs and websites tell you – but you haven’t been able to get pregnant. You are starting to wonder if this will never happen for you, if there isn’t more you can do. That’s where we come in.  

Our infertility specialists can work with both the male and female partners to determine what may be going wrong and then identify solutions. Instead of seeing a gynecologist, a urologist, and a primary care doctor, we offer one physician who give you solution-based results.  

When should you make an appointment at our clinic? If you are a woman under the age of 35, after you’ve been actively trying for 12 months, and if you are over 35, six months. We also recommend meeting with the infertility specialist if you have had more than one miscarriage, and/or the male partner has had a poor semen analysis. A fertility clinic should never be where you start your journey, rather when you aren’t getting the results you had hoped for.  

If you know that you want to see a fertility clinic, do some research about the procedures out there and what may be best for you. Also, have a frank conversation with your partner about how much money and time you are willing to invest in this journey. Infertility treatments, which involve drugs and hormone injections, can cost thousands of dollars and may cause physical effects. It might be helpful for you to talk to someone who has gone through the process, and our specialists are willing to set up an introductory meeting to go over any questions you may have before any treatments are assigned.  

This is a big journey, but for many families, it is the right one. We are here to help you and take care of you through it all.