If you are considering IVF or have already started the process, your doctor has probably already discussed ICSI with you.  ICSI stands for intracytoplasmic sperm injection.  It is done to assist the fertilization process by injecting a sperm into an egg rather than letting it happen without any assistance.

ICSI is typically done when a man’s sperm sample shows low sperm count or poor mobility or motility.  Whenever any of these conditions are present, most doctors will discuss the ICSI option.  Without using ICSI there is little chance that an IVF will be successful because the sperm might not be able to penetrate the egg without assistance.  The ICSI procedure is also often used for unexplained fertility problems or if IVF has not been successful in the past.

Even if past sperm samples have not shown any fertility problems, your doctor should still discuss ICSI with you.  The sperm sample taken for the IVF procedure might show a lower count or poorer mobility or motility than past samples.  Therefore, your doctor will want to know where you stand on the issue incase the situation arises.  Some clinics will also do ICSI if only a small number of eggs were produced and retrieved to help assure success.

To do the ICSI process, a sperm sample is collected just as it is for an IVF process without ICSI.  The sperm is then washed and cleaned.  Under microscope, the embryologist will then hold the egg in place and helps the sperm penetrate the egg.  Once an egg is fertilized, the embryo is placed in an incubator until the day of transfer.

The cost of IVF with ICSI is not much higher than IVF done without ICSI.  IVF with ICSI costs an average of $1500-$2500 more depending on what clinic you are using.  Many couples are willing to pay this minimal cost as it does increase your odds of having a successful IVF procedure.

Latest studies show that children born through the use of IVF and ICSI are healthy.  In the studies, there has been a slight increase of birth abnormalities, but I must stress that this has been a very slight increase.  I would encourage you to do more research online about the clinical ICSI tests and talk to your clinic about any risks or any concerns that you might have.

For many couples, the only alternative to doing ICSI is to use a sperm donor or to do adoption.  Based on past sperm samples, your doctor should be able to discuss statistics regarding the possibility of success without using ICSI.

Of course, the decision as to whether or not to do ICSI is a personal one.  Before making a decision, it is always good to do plenty of research and weigh the positives and negatives of all your options.  Even if you have healthy sperm, you should discuss ICSI ahead of time incase you are faced with having to make this decision.  With the success rates of doing ICSI and IVF being so good even with couples with severe male fertility problems, the ICSI procedure has brought hope and choices to couples who would not have even had this option just 15 years ago.

When couples begin fertility testing at a clinic, one of the first things that the clinic will do is to do a sperm analysis on a sperm sample.  When doing this analysis they are looking for many things including sperm quantity and the motility and morphology of the sperm, also known as sperm quality.  Both the quantity and the quality of the sperm have a direct affect on the probably of achieving a pregnancy through natural means or fertility treatments.

Sperm quantity measures the number of sperm per milliliter of sperm.  Men whose sperm count measures 10 million sperm per milliliter or less have a significant less chance of achieving a pregnancy with their partner and are therefore considered to have male fertility problems.  If you are diagnosed with a low sperm count, your doctor will more than likely do more testing to see if they can discover what is causing the low sperm count.  Conditions such as vericoceles can cause low sperm count, but can be corrected with surgery.  Low sperm count can be a temporary condition.  This is why further testing is needed.

If the sperm are otherwise healthy, men with low sperm count are still good candidates for such fertility treatment as IVF.  After all, it only takes one sperm and one egg to create an embryo.  During IVF, the clinic can help the sperm penetrate the egg using the Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure.

Sperm quality is broken down into two categories.  These categories are motility and morphology.  Motility refers to how fast sperm move and what they look like when they swim, meaning can they swim in a straight line.  Men who have 60% or more sperm that move normally are not considered to have fertility problems.  If the sperm does not move in a straight line and/or moves slowly than it will have problems moving through the cervical mucous and penetrating the egg.  It could also indicate a genetic defect.  IVF procedures with ICSI have proven successful for sperm with poor motility.

Sperm morphology refers to the shape and structure of the sperm.  Sperm with poor morphology cannot fertilize the egg.  When 40% or more of the sperm has poor morphology, than the chances of achieving a pregnancy without assistance goes down.  Poor sperm morphology includes very small or large heads on the sperm, sperm with two heads, sperm with misshapen heads or sperm with tails that are kinked or curled.  Couples can still do IVF when there is poor sperm morphology, but ICSI will be necessary.  With ICSI, the doctor can choose sperm with the best morphology to inject into the egg.  Even when a majority of the sperm sample has poor morphology, the doctor may be able to find some usable sperm.

Unless the sperm analysis shows no sperm present at all, most clinics will suggest doing a procedure such as IVF with ICSI to achieve pregnancy.  Depending on the results of your sperm analysis they will be better able to discuss statistics and chances of success of various treatments.  If you know the results of your sperm analysis already, I would encourage you to do further researcher based on the numbers you have been given.

Six years ago when we embarked on our journey through the fertility process, what I knew about fertility problems was based on the experiences of the adoptive families that I met at the adoption agency where I work.  I started at the agency nine years ago and, until a few years ago, it seemed like fertility issues were still a bit hush hush.  I have always been open about our process and I knew that there were plenty of other couples going through the same thing based on the number of people I worked with doing adoption and the countless number of couples I saw at the fertility clinic.  Yet still, not very many people were talking about it out in the open.

We all know of celebrities that have adopted and we know that probably 9 times out of 10 there was some sort of fertility issues, yet we never heard anything.  Yes, I know it is a private subject and nobody else’s business, but don’t you think that we would have heard something from somebody?  Then, a few years ago things started to shift.

Fertility issues began to become not so taboo.  Celebrities like Brook Shields and Courtney Cox Arquette put a face to fertility issues.  This happened at the same time we were going through our own process and I always wanted to say “thank you” to them for being so open and honest.  Brook Shields talked openly about her IVF treatments and the emotional and physical toll they can take on you.  Courtney Cox Arquette was somewhat quieter about her miscarriages, but she still shared some of the heartache of losing a baby through miscarriage.

My question to you now is, “when did it become in vogue to have fertility problems?”  It seems that just about every TV show has some sort of fertility problem written into their script.  From Monica and Chandler on Friends to Carlos and Gabrielle on Desperate Housewives, we are seeing fertility problems pop up right and left.  One of the things that kills me with these shows is that, a majority of the time, they are written by someone who obviously has not had any fertility problems.  Like when they go to the doctor and he tells them they can’t have children…without even doing any testing!  Yes, I know that they are just TV shows and are supposed to be more entertaining than real life, but they could at least do a little research before writing about fertility issues.

My husband and I often say that we were trend setters, ahead of the pack with our fertility problems.  Back when Hollywood didn’t know about shots and IVF and the “humor” of fertility problems, we were doing our shots, taking pills and enjoying conception with doctors and nurses in the room.  We could have been poster children for what is “up and coming” like the hot new sandals for spring or sweaters for the fall.  Ah, if we had only known we could have driven the band wagon while everyone else just jumped on it.

I am thankful that there is more information about fertility issues out for the public to see now.  Education, openness and honesty is what we need to help others get through the process.  I am glad that celebrities are putting a face on fertility problems and helping to dispel some of the myths about fertility issues while letting couples know that they are not alone in what they are going through.  Unlike bad haircuts and shoulder pads this is one Hollywood trend that I can live with.

Couples at the beginning stages of seeking help at a fertility clinic will generally begin by having some basic testing to try to get to the root of the problem of not being able to conceive.  Women usually begin by having blood work and a hysterosalpingogram. Men usually start their testing by giving a sperm sample for analysis.

When giving a sperm sample, the doctors look at various aspects of the sample including quantity and quality such as mobility and motility.  Men who have a low sperm count will have additional testing to see if they can discover what is causing the sperm count to be low.  Low sperm count can be the result of many things including hormonal reasons and physiological reasons.

A majority of male infertility cases are diagnosed as Vericoceles.  In fact, they are the leading cause of male infertility and male secondary infertility problems.  Vericoceles are essentially varicose veins in the spermatic cords.  When Vericoceles occur, they cause blood to pool in the testes.  This then causes the temperature to increase in the testes.  It is believed that this higher temperature causes sperm production to decrease, leading to fertility problems.

Vericoceles can occur in either the right or left testes, but are typically seen in the left testes.  Fortunately, unlike many other male fertility diagnoses, Vericoceles can be treated by surgery.  Doctors will typically treat Vericoceles by performing a Surgical Varicocelectomy.  This is now mainly done as outpatient surgery with minimal cutting and scarring involved.  Essentially what happens in this surgery is the vein is cut above the Vericocele and is tied.  The blood is then rerouted through healthy veins, thus allowing for good blood flow and keeping the blood from pooling in the testes.

There will be some minor discomfort and pain after this procedure.  Most doctors will prescribe pain medication for a few days after the surgery.  You can expect to be off work for at least 3-4 days so that you can rest and heal.  Some men have said that they needed less time and others said they experienced more pain and actually needed 5-7 days for recovery.  Either way, you should avoid heavy lifting for about one week after the surgery.

Studies show that sperm quantity should improve by four months after the surgery and in some cases sperm quantity has improved greatly in the first month.  Almost 50% of men having the surgery have achieved a pregnancy with their partner.  The percentage is even higher for couples experiencing secondary infertility due to Vericoceles.  There is a chance that you could experience problems with Vericoceles in another vein in the future.  Subsequent surgeries have proven successful for future pregnancies.

When you go to your doctor, be sure to discuss Vericoceles diagnostic testing if they do not offer it first.  Despite research that shows the surgery can be successful to help with male fertility problems, some doctors do not feel that there is enough evidence to support the surgery.  If they aren’t willing to explore it, I would encourage you to get a second opinion and to do more research on your own to give you more information about Vericoceles and Surgical Varicocelectomies.  The more knowledge you have on the subject, the more comfortable you will be with discussing this option with your doctor.

After my husband and I began our journey through the fertility process, I took on a new task at work.  I am a pregnancy and adoption counselor (ironically) and I then became the “expert” speaker for our sessions on moving from fertility treatments to adoption in our home study groups.  I didn’t want to concentrate on the negativity of the treatments.  I feel that whatever you go through, no matter how hard or horrible it is, there is always at least one positive thing that you can find about the situation.

I took this idea and rolled it into the beginning of my part of the session by talking about losses and gains in various situations in our lives, such as graduating from college, marriage and moving.  I end the losses and gains part by having couples talk about the losses and gains they experienced while going through the fertility process.  While the answers to the question about what losses couples have experienced comes easily, they are surprised when they can come up with just about the same amount of gains by the time we are done.  Doing this session actually helped me get through the process because I was able to step back and look at what gains I was experiencing both within myself and with my husband.

For anyone going through the fertility process, the losses are obvious.  There is the loss of spontaneity in your love life because everything is on a schedule.  We have the loss of money for all the treatments we have to pay for because most of our insurances won’t pay for everything.  The loss of freedom and the loss of control go hand in hand.  Everything is in someone else’s hands, in someone else’s timing, in someone else’s opinions, in someone else’s options, in someone else’s expertise.  We don’t have control over anything except for whether or not we want to proceed forward or when we want to stop and look at an alternative method of parenting such as adoption or surrogacy.  We have the loss of time as month after month we wait and experience disappointment, only to lose another 30 days before we go through the same thing again.  The loss of privacy happens because we have to tell doctors and nurses about every detail of our personal life and they are present in the room when we are (hopefully) conceiving through IUI or IVF procedures.

We experience the loss of friendships.  This can occur either when others make uncaring or judgmental remarks that cause us to step back from the relationship.  Sometimes we choose to step back from the relationship because we just can’t bear to go to one more baby shower or one more 1st Birthday Party.  We can also experience loss of closeness with our families for the same reasons.

There are also other losses that we experience personally.  The fertility process affects each of us differently and we react to it differently.  Facing the loss of our dream child and the possibility of never being pregnant was hard for me and it was hard for many of the women in my support group.  My husband and I faced the loss of honesty as we did not tell a lot of family members about our problems and month after month I had to tell my Mother-in-law that we were going to wait another 3-5 years to have children because we just weren’t ready yet.  In my job my loss was often thrown in my face as I counseled women facing unplanned pregnancies.

With all those losses, where are the gains?  I found that you have to look deeper, deep within yourself, deep within your relationships to find the gains.  I gained even more closeness in my relationship with my husband.  We went through everything together.  There was no finger pointing at me because, essentially, I was the reason we were going through this.  I loved him deeply before, but because of the process I love him even more.

I gained an inner strength that I didn’t know I had.  The fertility process was hard, harder than I could even imagine, yet I was surviving it.  I gained a sense of humor about the process as well, which is what helped me through.  It was such a heavy thing to go through.  I had to find irony and humor in the process and it helped lighten the load.  I also began to gain a sense of peace, knowing that if it didn’t work I would be able to be a parent through adoption.  I knew I would grieve, but I knew I could heal if that IVF hadn’t worked.

I gained friendships through my fertility support group.  These friendships were what got me through the tough times and they are still going strong as we have all entered new phases in our lives.  I gained confidence through these friends and through starting the fertility support group.

I gained a closeness to God that I had not experienced before.  My faith was strengthened.  Instead of being mad and asking “why me?” I asked for strength to get through everything and to be able to accept whatever outcome we had with the procedures.  This helped me through the hard times along with my husband and my friends.

My husband and I began to gain some control in our lives as well.  At one point we were able to say “we need a break” and we didn’t do any fertility stuff for 8 months before doing our IVF.  We saved some money during that time, but we didn’t keep a time table in our relationship.

Just as we all experience our own personal losses during this process, we all experience our own personal gains.  When you are in the middle of the process it is often hard to see some of these gains.  Take the time to make a list of all the gains that you have experienced so far, even if you have to reach deep, deep down inside just to come up with one.  By doing this, it helped to ease the stress in my own journey as I would pull out that list and read it or add to it when I was having a hard day.  I hope that by doing this it will help you get through the process as well.

When you are beginning the fertility process and are close to age 40 or if you have had unexplained fertility problems and doctors are searching further for answers, you will more than likely do a clomid challenge test (CCT) or clomiphene citrate challenge test (CCCT).  The CCT is used to assess ovarian reserve.  It can be used both as a diagnostic tool as well as a predictor for success in an IVF cycle.

When a woman is born, she is born with a lifetime supply of eggs.  This is kind of like a “what you got is what you get” phenomenon and a woman does not develop, grow, or produce new eggs throughout her lifetime.  Each month a follicle containing an egg will develop to maturity and be released (this is ovulation).

Ovarian reserve essentially describes the quality of the eggs that are being produced.  As a woman ages, her ovarian reserve typically diminishes.  However, even a young woman in her 20s can have a diminished ovarian reserve.  A diminished ovarian reserve indicates that a woman’s chances of getting pregnant decrease and a woman’s chances of having a miscarriage increases.

During the CCT, your Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) levels and estradiol levels are tested on day 3 of your cycle.  You will then take Clomid (usually 100 mg/day) for days 5-9. On day 10 your FSH and estradiol levels will be tested again.

If your FSH levels are less than 10 on both days, then the test indicates that there is not a decreased ovarian reserve and everything appears normal.  If your FSH levels measure anywhere between 10-18 then it indicates that, while you don’t have what is considered a diminished ovarian reserve, your chances of getting pregnant decreases and your chances of having a miscarriage increases.  Any FSH levels over 18 indicate that you have a diminished ovarian reserve.  Your chances of getting pregnant substantially decrease and your chances of having a miscarriage substantially increase.

Some studies have shown that hormone treatments using progesterone and estrogen can decrease your chances of a miscarriage.  Only a few studies have even indicated that hormones can affect your chances of getting pregnant.

Some clinics will not proceed with IVF if you have a decreased ovarian reserve.  Most of them will discuss the odds of success with you and allow you to decide whether or not to proceed.  At that point you really have to weigh the odds and decide if you want to attempt an IVF, try IVF with hormone therapy or if you want to begin to explore your other options.

You essentially have two other options to choose from if you don’t want to proceed with IVF due to diminished ovarian reserve.  You could either try IVF with an egg donor or explore adoption as a way to build your family.  It is a feeling of being at a crossroads when you are faced with such a decision.  I would encourage you to take the time to explore every option, weigh the pros and cons and decide which route would be the best for you and your family.

If you are one of the many couples experiencing secondary infertility, you know how hard this can be.  It is a mixture of emotions.  You are happy for the child/children you have yet you long for more.  You feel guilty for wanting more.  You are like a member of two clubs.  On one side you are a Mom and on the other side you are longing to be an expectant Mom again.  People don’t understand why you are sad.

People say unpleasant, ignorant or hurtful things as it is when you are having fertility problems.  Secondary infertility brings out a whole new host of comments.  “Don’t you want any more children?”  “You don’t want him to be an only child, do you?”  “You already have one child, you should feel blessed.”  Even friends that you have that are going through their own fertility problems might not lend you an sympathetic ear, often pointing out that you should be happy with the child you have.

The thing is, you do feel blessed.  But, at the same time, you still have the longing for another child, the longing for a brother or sister for your child.  Because of all these conflicting messages and feelings you end up feeling all alone, as though you have no one to talk to who will truly understand what you are going through.  You need someone to empathize not to offer “helpful” comments that just end up making you feel even more guilty and alone.

First of all, I want to say that experiencing secondary infertility is just as hard, just as emotional as having fertility problems and no children.  In fact, it is more difficult in some senses.  On top of the grief, sadness and loss associated with fertility problems, you have the guilt of wanting what you already have again and the sense that you should not feel sad because you have what so many others don’t.  Many couples experiencing secondary infertility tend to stuff these feelings and emotions deep down inside because there is nobody to share them with.

Anytime you are experiencing grief and loss, hiding or ignoring your emotions doesn’t make them go away.  You just keep storing them until you finally can’t hold them in anymore.  Before you get to that point, you need to find a way to express what you are going through.

Consult with your fertility doctor to see if there is a counselor in the area that specializes in fertility issues.  Search out a local fertility support group.  If you don’t feel comfortable with either of these options, I would highly encourage you to join an online support group or network of women experiencing secondary infertility.  It is a way for you to finally connect with someone who can validate every thought and emotion you are having now.

You need to realize that you are not alone, that there are other women and couples going through the same thing that you are.  It might take you reaching out a little to get the help, encouragement and support that you need.  Secondary infertility is a difficult place to be and you should never let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t feel the way you do for whatever reason.  Feelings, pain, loss and sadness are all real emotions.  Don’t let anyone make you feel differently.

“Absolutely not” was the response a good friend of mine and her husband had when their doctor first approached them with the idea of using donor eggs for an IVF cycle.  I first met my friend when she and her husband were considering adoption.  She then joined my fertility support group and we were able to follow her through the process that brought her to using donor eggs.  She now has a three-year-old son and one-year-old twin girls.

The decision to use donor egg or sperm is a very personal choice.  Once you come to the decision that you want to do use a donor program, most clinics will even require that you talk to a counselor surrounding the emotional aspects of using donated eggs or sperm.  It is not counseling to determine if you are a “fit” person, it is counseling to discuss how having a child that will be genetically related to only one parent might affect you and your relationship with that child in the future.

As my friend was going through the counseling to make the decision, she finally came to the terms that biologically the children are hers.  It was her biology, her body that was providing nourishment for her children to grow.  She began to recognize the difference between genetics and biology.  She would still be her child’s birthmother and that was important to her.

Once they decided to pursue an egg donor program and went through some counseling, they began the next step of choosing a donor.  When choosing an egg donor or sperm donor, you are actually able to read through background information on the donors to pick a donor that matches your needs.  This background information is not just height, weight and eye color, it is an extensive social and medical history on the donor and his family, typically going back to grandparents.  You will get information about any mental health or medical issues that are recurring in their family.  All of the information you receive is non-identifying and donations are done anonymously.

When choosing a donor, some couples look for a donor that matches as closely to their spouse’s social and medical history as possible.  Other couples choose a donor based on good medical and mental health history, which might be a better medical background than their own.

When choosing a sperm donor, you will more than likely be choosing from sperm that has already been donated and frozen.  When choosing donor eggs, you will actually go through the IVF process along with the donor.  Whereas she will be taking medications to stimulate egg production, you will be taking medications to prepare your body for transfer of the embryos when they are ready to be transferred.

IVF or IUIs using a sperm donor do not typically cost much more than going through the process without a sperm donor.  IVF with an egg donor typically costs between $8,000-$15,000 more than IVF without an egg donor.

Before choosing to do a donor program, you need to weigh the pros and cons of using a donor with your spouse versus the pros and cons of other options such as adoption.  It needs to be a decision that you come to together instead of a decision that one of you gives into in order to appease your spouse.  It was to be done with peace and acceptance in order for you to fully accept and love your child.

I would encourage you to read more about donor programs and to talk to men or women who have done a donor program.  Nobody knows what you are going through better than someone who has been in your same situation.  You can find support at a local fertility support group or an online fertility support group.  Ask all the questions you need to ask and feel 100% comfortable with your decision before proceeding.  I hope that the information in this article helps you in your journey and decision making process.

If you are just in the beginning stages of the fertility process you are probably at the point where you are trying to figure out what is going on to prevent a pregnancy.  One of the first tests that a woman will have done is a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) to determine whether or not there are any blockages in the fallopian tubes.  Because blocked fallopian tubes account for 20-25% of all female fertility problems it is essential that women start with this test before proceeding with any fertility treatments.

There are many causes of tubal blockages or abnormal fallopian tubes.  These causes include adhesions, infections, infectious or non-infectious pelvic inflammatory diseases, scar tissue, endometriosis and damaged tube ends or damaged fimbria.  The number one cause of blocked tubes is a Chlamydia infection.  Some women have had Chlamydia and not even known it so that the damage has already occurred without a woman even having an idea that any infection was ever there.

A blocked tube hinders a pregnancy by preventing the egg and sperm from meeting.  Many times in blocked tubes, an egg will not even be able to get much past the ovary let alone the whole way to the uterus.  Blocked tubes also increase your risk of an ectopic pregnancy as the egg can become fertilized in the tube but the embryo can not make it back to the uterus, therefore causing it to implant in the tubes.  This is a highly dangerous scenario and can cause infection if the tube bursts.

A blocked tube can also cause fluid to build up in the tube.  This fluid can eventually back up into the uterus.  When there is fluid in the uterus it impedes implantation of the embryo in the uterine lining.  Most clinics will not do an IVF procedure unless a blocked tube is unblocked or removed because of this fluid problem.

A woman with a blocked fallopian tube can have laproscopic surgery to attempt to unblock the tube or remove scar tissue.  The less blockage there is, the more successful the surgery.  Some blockages are just at one end of the tube and they have the highest success rate of becoming unblocked.  If a woman has had a Chlamydia infection, there tends to be more extensive damage and blockages.  Blockages due to Chlamydia have the lowest success rate of becoming unblocked.

Whether or not to have the surgery is a personal decision.  One thing you must realize is that if you have blocked tubes but opt not to have the surgery to unblock them, then you decrease your chances of getting pregnant significantly and increase your risk of an ectopic pregnancy.

You need to weigh the pros and cons of the surgery along with the long term effects of having it verses not having it.  You also can discuss other options with your doctor such as whether or not they will do an IUI or IVF on a patient with a blocked tube.  Their answer to this question may also affect your decision.  In the end, you have to do what is best for you and your spouse.  No one can decide what is best except for you.

In my fertility support group we started a new tradition about three years ago.  We decided to give an IVF shower to anyone in the group who was getting ready to go through the IVF process.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate hope and bring comfort and friendship to the recipient as they prepared for retrieval, transfer and bed rest time.

I can’t remember who came up with the idea first.  It might have come up in passing as we were discussing how much we dreaded baby showers at that time and wondering whether or not we would ever get to have one of our own.  We were all excited about the shower and prepared to give one to one of the girls in the group two weeks later.

When preparing for the shower, we steered clear of any baby related items.  We wanted it to be all about the recipient, a shower to pamper her and comfort her.  Many people in the group are spiritual and I began to look for unique books that either had uplifting stories, inspirational stories or daily thoughts. I wanted it to be a book that would help them pass bed rest time and one that would be appropriate no matter what the IVF results were.

When it came time for my IVF shower, we met at Starbucks. I’m addicted to coffee, but gave up caffeine totally once we started fertility treatments.  I chose a coffee shop though because I love the atmosphere and smells there.  Anyway, it was a wonderful experience to be surrounded by women who knew what I was going through and to feel their love and support.

I was given all sorts of goodies such as lotion, lip gloss and candies.  I got a comedy DVD that I watched my second day of bed rest and it helped keep my mind off of things and made me laugh, which I needed.  My favorite gift was a relaxation CD.  I listened to it the day I came home from my transfer and was on bed rest.  The songs on that CD still invoke so much emotion in me today.  Every time I used any of the items that were given to me it made me feel comforted.  Even after bed rest, as I was awaiting my results, I found my gifts comforting.

If you know someone who is going through the IVF process, you don’t necessarily have to give them a shower, but just give them a book, CD or pampering gift that will let them know you care and are thinking about them.  It will let them know they are not alone.  Even buying a pampering gift can be comforting.  Whatever you can do to help yourself or someone else going through the IVF process is a gift worth giving.