The journey to pregnancy is a winding road of hope. You may have a wishlist featuring maternity clothes, ideas about the nursery, or dreams of how you’ll spend your time with your child. Perhaps that’s why the quest to get pregnant can be so anxiety-inducing. It strikes at the very heart of who we are as human beings and calls into question our deepest wishes and hopes for the future ..read more

Between 2000 and 2010, egg donation nearly doubled, resulting in thousands of pregnancies each year. As more families delay having children while building their careers and establishing financial stability, egg donation will likely become even more popular. For most women, the difficult reality is that while it takes longer and longer to become financially stable, fertility has a ticking clock attached to it. As a woman gets older her ovarian reserve diminishes and the older she gets, the eggs she has are often lower quality. Eventually, this can make it difficult and then eventuall ..read more

About a third of fertility issues are due to problems with the man. Another third are caused by problems with both the woman and the man. In both cases, using a sperm donor may offer an affordable, safe, low-intervention path to pregnancy. Finding a sperm donor in Houston is not hard, and choosing the right fertility clinic increases your odds of a successful, healthy, happy pregnancy. So if you’re considering a sperm donor, here’s what you need to know ..read more

Infertility can be painful and deeply frustrating. You may find yourself wondering why this is happening to you. And while infertility treatment can be highly effective, it presents some additional challenges: some, but not all, people who undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) experience weight gain. This can be frustrating, but significant weight gain is unlikely. So let’s separate IVF weight gain fact from fiction. Here’s what you need to know ..read more

There is perhaps nothing more frustrating than a false positive pregnancy test. One minute you’re celebrating impending parenthood. And the next you’re grieving a baby who never was. PCOS will not cause a false positive pregnancy test. In fact, false positive pregnancy tests are so rare that most women will never have one. PCOS can, however, affect your ability to get pregnant. It also increases your risk of a very early miscarriage. Early miscarriages -- called chemical pregnancies -- are easy to confuse with false positives, since tests will initially result as positive and then l ..read more

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is an affordable and less invasive alternative to in vitro fertilization (IVF). For women who are good candidates, success rates are slightly lower than those associated with IVF, but still quite high. In the days following an IUI procedure, you may be overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety and eager anticipation as you await your pregnancy test (sometimes called a beta). Here’s what to expect in the days and weeks following an IUI procedure ..read more

Taking a home pregnancy test can trigger many emotions -- excitement, anxiety, and if you’ve been unfortunate in receiving a negative test result after a negative test result, frustration and anger. False negative pregnancy tests are much more common than false positives. While a urinary tract infection (UTI) is unlikely to cause a false negative it could do so, at least in theory. If you have a UTI, see a doctor and then retake the test a few days later ..read more

A false positive pregnancy test is very rare, but false negatives are extraordinarily common. That's comforting news to people struggling with infertility, especially those dealing with the chronic frustration of month after month of negative tests. Of course, averages and data about pregnancy tests don’t tell you much about your individual case, or what you can expect as you navigate the choppy waters of infertility. So what do you need to know about false positive and false pregnancy tests? Here’s an overview ..read more

Male infertility accounts for at least a third of infertility cases. In an additional third, problems with both the man and the woman play a role. In most cases, male infertility is due to issues with the sperm, such as low sperm count or poor sperm quality. In about 10-15% of men, there is no sperm at all in his semen. And unfortunately, there are few outward signs of sperm issues. Most men don’t know they’re infertile until they struggle to get a partner pregnant. Here’s what you need to know about sperm count and quality, and its correlation with pregnancy success ..read more

About 10% of women and 1 in 8 couples have trouble getting or staying pregnant. If you struggle with infertility, you may feel overwhelmed, alternating between feelings of despondency and hope, frustration and excitement, all centered around the potential to become a parent. Infertility is a whirlwind of emotions, and it can often involve a wide range of medical procedures and tests ..read more