SL 619 Health - Fertility - FINAL_Layout 1 6 / 12 / 19 4 : 08 PM Page 2 more likely to result in a live birth . ” One of these research projects involves the Vitrification used to be considered ex - reproductive tract “ biodome , ” according to H E A L T H perimental , performed only in situations Jason M . Franasiak , M.D . , FACOG , HCLD - where young or un - partnered women were ALD , lead physician and lab director of faced with conditions such as cancer that RMANJ’s newly opened office in Marlton , posed an immediate threat to their fertility . N.J . Essentially , this research will explore how That , however , has changed . the microbes living within the human repro - are no obvious red flags . While these issues “ As the technology has improved , the ductive tract may affect reproductive outcomes . may cause frustration in the fact that some - applications have extended far beyond that “ This is a special , special place to work , ” one’s struggles cannot be precisely ex - to include elective egg freezing for individuals Dr . Franasiak adds . “ Being able to identify plained , Dr . Shah sees a silver lining : “ I al - who are not yet ready to conceive , ” Dr . areas in which we can help people build ways emphasize that the absence of any Shah says . “ It is important to note that families is incredibly rewarding . ” insurmountable obstacles can be an overall oocyte vitrification is not a guarantee of As for Janice Perkins , she was ultimately positive in terms of prognosis . ” future fertility , but can provide additional able to cross off the last item on her “ to In recent years , technological advances assurance for individuals who choose to do ” list . Meeting with a fertility specialist have had a significant impact on fertility undergo the procedure . ” helped to identify the source of the repro - clinics ’ ability to help clients achieve the ductive problems she and her husband dream of starting a family . These include had been facing . Through in vitro fertiliza - preimplantation genetic testing , also known MORE TO COME tion , Perkins got pregnant and carried the as PGT , and oocyte vitrification , also known While fertility treatment has grown expo - baby to term . She’s now the mother of a as egg freezing . nentially in recent years , multiplying a couple’s happy , healthy girl . “ With PGT , we’re able to grow embryos or individual’s probability of one day having “ Everyone has ideas of what they want to the blastocyst stage — five or six days of a child , experts expect more progress in the out of life , ” she says . “ For me , one of my life — and biopsy a small number of cells , ” years to come . goals was to have two kids . The first time I Dr . Shah says . “ With this technology , we For its part , RMANJ is using its ground - held [ my daughter ] , I thought : This is enough . can avoid passing along certain genetic dis - breaking research capabilities to better un - n This is everything I could possibly want . ” orders and identify embryos that may be derstand the factors that influence fertility . * Name changed to protect privacy Throughout history , infertility their personal stories through social has borne a certain amount of stig - media and other platforms . Positive Signs ma , treated as something to be “ By reading or listening to ashamed of and kept to oneself . someone else’s story , other people Those who go through it often expe - who are going through this feel like rience anxiety , depression , and feel - they’re not alone , and that’s super ings of isolation , which , in turn , can important , ” she says . “ It’s almost like strain even the closest personal rela - it gives people permission to talk tionships . That’s why Eichlin , a nurse about it , and that can feel as though practitioner with Reproductive Med - a huge weight has been lifted . ” icine Associates of New Jersey , refers Divya Shah , M.D . , MME , assis - to it as “ a silent struggle . ” tant professor of clinical obstetrics “ People find themselves not and gynecology for the University of wanting to go to a picnic or family Pennsylvania Perelman School of get - together because they fear oth - Medicine , has noticed a shift , too . er people will ask when they’re go - “ No one likes to feel that they ing to start having kids , ” she says . are the only ones having difficulty “ It can be psychologically dis - conceiving , and considering that abling . Couples need to know that the prevalence of infertility is about they are not the only ones who are 10 to 15 percent , chances are they going through this struggle . ” know someone else who has strug - The stigma may be starting to gled with it , too , ” she says . “ Even if fade , however , driven in part by people aren’t immediately forth - Social media abounds with action from those who struggle to more accurate portrayals of infertili - coming about their own reproduc - images of young parents doting accomplish what seems to come so ty in entertainment media and by tive challenges , once they hear over swaddled newborns . While easily to everyone else . For these in - public figures such as Michelle Oba - about the struggles of others , they such images are likely to amass dividuals , Hayley Eichlin , DNP , ma coming forward to talk about do seem more willing to come out plenty of “ likes ” and “ shares , ” they APRN , WHNP - BC , has a message : their own struggles . Likewise , Eich - of the woodwork and say , ‘ I went may generate a much different re - “ You are not alone . ” lin says more people are sharing through something like that , too . ’ ” SUBURBANLIFEMAGAZINE.COM JUNE 2019 20 |