{"id":1999709,"date":"2023-08-14T03:11:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T07:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-time-to-stop-treating-assisted-reproductive-technology-as-a-quick-fix-for-infertility\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T03:15:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T07:15:32","slug":"its-time-to-stop-treating-assisted-reproductive-technology-as-a-quick-fix-for-infertility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-time-to-stop-treating-assisted-reproductive-technology-as-a-quick-fix-for-infertility\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop viewing Assisted Reproductive Technology as a quick infertility solution."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fits-time-to-stop-treating-assisted-reproductive-technology-as-a-quick-fix-for-infertility%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1999709&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>Fertility: A Medical Mystery<\/h2>\n<p>Human understanding \u200bof reproduction and childbirth\u200c has come a long way since God introduced labor pains in\u2062 Genesis 3. Yet \u2064even\u2064 after hundreds \u200dof years of scientific advancements \u2014 some\u2063 that are far beyond\u200b the ethical standards a civilized society should hold\u200d \u2014 how some babies are made still remains a bit of a medical mystery.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all heard stories of couples who received \u200cwhat appeared \u2063to be a bleak infertility diagnosis but later\u2064 became pregnant \u2064without intervention. Some classify these joyous anecdotes as a mere deviation or perhaps a misdiagnosis. Others, like Texas parents Jake and Megan Gigl, say it\u2019s a miracle.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>After several\u200d rounds of reproductive\u2063 testing, \u200call of which came back normal, Doctors determined the \u2063Gigls had \u2063only\u200b close to a 3 \u2062percent chance of conceiving each month. Shortly after\u200b learning that\u2062 news, \u2063Megan began fertility drugs designed to promote ovulation. She chose to stop the pills because \u201cthey did not help at \u200dall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t \u200chave an answer as to \u2064what was the \u2063problem. And so everyone would say, \u2018Oh, we could try this, and it \u200dmight up your\u2062 chances a few percent,\u2019 but month after month\u2063 after month and \u2064just trying stuff like \u2062taking shots in \u200dthe dark really wears on you\u2063 emotionally,\u201d Megan said. \u200b\u201cEvery month, \u200byou\u2019re like, \u2018Are we pregnant?\u2019 It \u200dtook \u2063a huge toll on my mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just insane\u2062 to \u2064me \u2062that we\u200b can\u2019t actually get a diagnosis,\u201d Jake said.\u2063 \u201cOther than \u2064infertility, it feels like\u2063 in the medical world, there\u2019s \u200dso few things where\u2064 they\u200b can say, \u2018Yeah, \u200cwe just \u200cdon\u2019t know what that is.\u2019 There\u2019s always something else they\u200b can \u2064do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Gigls also looked into using assisted reproductive technology (ART) to boost their chances of becoming \u200bpregnant. Their doctor, however, warned \u200dthem that methods like intrauterine \u2063insemination (IUI) \u2064and in vitro\u2062 fertilization (IVF) weren\u2019t the end-all solutions they are often\u200d marketed to \u2063be.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cOur \u2063doctor was really candid with us. She was like, \u2018Look, you can do this, but \u200cit will basically increase your \u2064chances from essentially\u200d zero to maybe have a 5\u200c percent chance or maybe \u200chave a 10 percent chance,\u201d Jake said.<\/p>\n<p>Not only were their chances of conception with IUI or IVF \u200cconsidered low, but the\u200b Gigls\u2019 one consultation with a prominent infertility specialist in their city was what Jake described as \u201cvery transactional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The doctor] walked \u2062into the \u2062room, and he had a chart that he showed us. It was basically like,\u2064 \u2018Hey, you\u2019ll never\u2062 have \u200ckids unless I do something for you,\u2019\u201d Jake explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring that season, us and other people were in \u2063such vulnerable states that we\u2019re looking for a\u2064 solution.\u2062 If someone kind of has a god \u2063complex or whatever it \u2064is,\u2063 and he\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, I\u2064 can fix\u2064 this\u200d for you, and while I\u2019m doing it, I\u2019m gonna charge you \u2064an arm and a\u200d leg \u200dto do that,\u2019 it\u2019s just hard,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Gigls had always planned to foster,\u2064 so when natural conception \u200cwasn\u2019t working, they pivoted to opening up their home to children in need.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA couple of babies\u2063 came and went.\u200c Then a third foster baby\u200b landed in\u200b our home, and four months later, we found that we were pregnant,\u201d Megan said.<\/p>\n<p>The Gigls said they weren\u2019t \u201cactively\u201d trying to conceive, especially since they were planning to adopt\u2062 their latest foster baby, but they are now living happily with \u2063two toddlers.<\/p>\n<h2>Fertility Is \u2062Fluid<\/h2>\n<p>To this day, the Gigls\u2019 \u200bmedical team hasn\u2019t been able to explain\u2062 why they suddenly conceived naturally after being \u200bunable to \u2063do so for so long. That is not an uncommon experience. The world is filled with\u2063 couples who, after years of struggling with\u2063 conception, suddenly find \u200cthemselves pregnant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFertility is a continuum,\u201d Dr. \u200bKimberly Barrows, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/four-supplements-to-boost-your-mood\/\" title=\"Four Supplements to Boost Your Mood\">board-certified family physician<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-time-to-stop-treating-assisted-reproductive-technology-as-a-quick-fix-for-infertility\/\" title=\"Stop viewing Assisted Reproductive Technology as a quick infertility solution.\">natural family\u2062 planning\u2064 medical consultant practicing<\/a> in Michigan, told The Federalist. \u201cThe diagnosis of infertility \u2014 \u200dlike absolutely infertile, no\u2063 chance of conception \u2014 is very rare. Likely, [couples] do \u200bnot actually have infertility, but what you would more accurately term \u200bsub-fertility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucl.ac.uk\/news\/2023\/jun\/one-five-women-become-pregnant-naturally-after-having-baby-conceived-ivf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">June 2023 study<\/a> from the University\u2062 College London found that \u2063one in five women who underwent in vitro fertilization under the impression that they could never have\u2063 kids on their own ended \u200dup naturally \u2062conceiving later in life.<\/p>\n<p>UCL researchers wondered if fertility drugs played a role in this spontaneous conception. <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.li\/48dM8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Medical professionals\u2064 across the globe<\/a>, however, question whether some \u2064of those women required ART to conceive\u200b in the first \u2062place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/getting-pregnant\/how-to-get-pregnant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eighty-five percent<\/a> \u2062 of couples will conceive \u2063in \u2064the\u2063 first \u200byear. In the second year, those 15 percent\u2064 who have not conceived, 50\u2062 percent \u2062of them will conceive\u200b in the\u200c next year,\u201d Barrows said. Some\u2063 scientists put \u200bthat first number even closer to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC188498\/#:~:text=Conception%20is%20most%20likely%20to,and%2095%25%20at%20two%20years.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">90 percent<\/a> for\u200d women of\u200c childbearing age.<\/p>\n<p>Widespread medical consensus suggests that couples who have regular, \u2064unprotected intercourse for a \u200cyear but do not become\u200b pregnant are considered infertile. That means men\u2063 and \u2064women who \u2063still have a good shot at becoming naturally pregnant\u200c are often \u200cprematurely deemed unable to have \u2064children and offered \u200dART as the sole\u200b way to begin their journey of parenthood.<\/p>\n<p>It also means \u200bthat the underlying issues affecting conception are not being properly \u200caddressed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInfertility, while it is often\u2063 given as a diagnosis, is really a symptom \u2063of another underlying medical issue,\u201d\u2063 Dr. Marguerite Duane, \u2062a board-certified family physician and co-founder and executive \u200ddirector of the Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Science (FACTS), told The Federalist. \u201cTo \u200bgive women a diagnosis of\u2064 infertility is doing\u200b them a disservice \u200cbecause it\u2019s not explaining\u2063 why \u200dthey are infertile, why they\u2063 are not able to conceive.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Profitability\u200d Over People?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/reproductivehealth\/infertility\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CDC data<\/a> \u200b suggests that approximately one in five women (19 percent)\u200b find themselves without child after one year of trying. As many as <a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/23187-unexplained-infertility\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">30 percent<\/a> \u200cof \u200bthese so-called\u2063 \u201cinfertile\u201d \u2064couples do not have a medical explanation for\u2062 why they are \u200dunable to\u2062 conceive.<\/p>\n<p>After being handed such a daunting diagnosis,\u200c wannabe parents understandably scramble to find a \u200dsolution. Instead of addressing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nba-hands-down-25-game-suspension-to-ja-morant-for-gun-toting-video\/\" title=\"Ja Morant receives a 25-game suspension from the NBA for video with firearms.\">underlying issues contributing<\/a> to a couple\u2019s \u2063chances of conceiving, doctors will often recommend their patients seek\u2063 solace in ART.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve\u200b heard from patients who say after one or two trials of a few things and maybe a small \u2063amount of blood\u2062 work, they will be\u2064 pushed towards IVF,\u201d Barrows \u200bexplained. \u2064\u201cThat\u2019s a really common thing. I think it\u2019s hard to know the reason behind that, but \u2063definitely, not enough research\u2062 has been going into how to help these \u2062women conceive within their relationship without the use of IVF or other artificial reproductive techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other words, ART is literally sold for thousands of dollars\u200b to emotionally vulnerable people \u2063as\u2062 a one-size-fits-all solution for what appears to be impossible-to-overcome infertility diagnoses.<\/p>\n<p>ART is expensive, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/12\/14\/we-need-to-get-serious-about-meeting-advances-in-reproductive-tech-with-an-actionable-moral-framework\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">plagued with moral and ethical issues<\/a>, \u2062and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/05\/when-sperm-and-eggs-are-monetized-human-existence-becomes-transactional\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">physically\u2064 taxing<\/a> \u200c \u2014 by no means is it the easiest thing for patients to be prescribed. Reproductive technology such as IVF may\u200c yield <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/art\/reports\/2020\/summary.html#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20infants%20born,Banking%20cycles%20are%20excluded.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tens of thousands \u200cof babies<\/a> each year, but it\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.factsaboutfertility.org\/modeling-the-cumulative-effectiveness-of-fertility-treatments-a-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not a foolproof way<\/a> to ensure parenthood. It is,\u200b however,\u2062 profitable for \u2062those prescribing\u200b it. Globally, the booming \u2063fertility industry is expected to be worth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globenewswire.com\/en\/news-release\/2023\/02\/17\/2610675\/0\/en\/Fertility-Services-Market-Size-Worth-USD-46-06-Billion-by-2030-at-6-CAGR-Report-by-Market-Research-Future-MRFR.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$46 billion in the \u2064next decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Parents \u2062like\u2062 the \u200cGigls were \u2063largely \u200dspared from the ART pressure after they \u200bswitched doctors, but many infertile couples are told their only chance at children is \u2062to use artificial interventions. This can cause stress for many \u200dcouples, a factor that\u200b does <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org\/hometown-health\/speaking-of-health\/infertility-and-stress#:~:text=While%20it's%20unlikely%20that%20stress,time%20needed%20to%20achieve%20pregnancy.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">play a \u2063significant role in reproductive health<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s our temptation in our culture \u2064is if it\u2019s more technically difficult, if it\u2019s more complex and intricate from the technological\u2064 standpoint, it must be better,\u201d Dr. Barrows said. \u201cBut that\u2019s not necessarily the case. \u2063And improving\u2064 a \u2062woman\u2019s health so that \u2063her cycles are more fertile and \u200dher \u200bhusband \u2063as well, helping him\u200b be as healthy\u200c as possible, goes way farther and will help with\u200d the conception of multiple children, not just\u200c the one time of doing IVF, one cycle\u2063 for \u2063hopefully one baby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Profit\u200d may play a\u2064 role in ART\u200b recommendations, but it\u2019s also quite possible artificial methods are the only ones some medical \u2064personnel\u2062 know to offer couples\u200c struggling to conceive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the United \u2063States, most \u2063people, and this includes most\u2063 medical \u200bprofessionals, physicians, nurse\u200b practitioners, \u200cmidwives, etc.,\u2064 are not familiar with restorative reproductive\u200c medicine or restorative reproductive medical approaches,\u201d Duane said.<\/p>\n<p>Duane, who is trained as a Creighton medical consultant, as a NeoFertility medical\u2064 consultant, and in fertility \u200deducation\u200b and medical management (FEM), not only wants patients to be educated about\u200d their options after hearing\u200b word\u2064 that natural conception might be difficult, but she also wants physicians to \u201cfocus on getting at the root cause of underlying\u200b reproductive health issues\u201d and\u2063 \u201crestoring the \u2062reproductive system\u2063 back to its normal function.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cycles fluctuate, bodies change, and\u2062 circumstances can shift in a \u2063split second. \u200dAll of these \u2064play a \u200clarge role when\u200d it comes time to make a baby. The last thing couples struggling with\u2064 conditions that manifest\u2062 as permanent infertility need is pressure\u2063 to choose\u2064 assisted reproductive technology that could\u2063 be doing \u2062them a major \u2064moral disservice and even \u2062slowing them from\u2063 discovering whether they\u2064 have the ability to conceive naturally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>mystery. Despite significant progress in reproductive science, including controversial practices, the intricacies of human conception and birth continue to elude complete comprehension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":1999710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1999709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1999709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1999710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1999709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1999709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1999709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}