LifeQuest IVF Blog
Some companies pay for prescription drugs, dentist visits and eyewear to ease their employees' financial burden. What if your employer were to cover the cost of IVF treatments? More women are deciding to have children later in life and this decision creates an interesting debate. Should companies extend their benefits plan to include covering the cost of IVF treatments for their employees? The subject of employer-funded IVF treatments was discussed in a recent Globe and Mail article.
“When [those employees] finally realize their dream of having a family, they’re going to be thankful to that employer for helping make that dream come true, and will most likely be loyal employees as a result,” said Erin Miller, a consultant in Toronto who is currently financing her IVF treatment.
What do you think? Should employers pay for IVF?
Hide Facebook updates or avoid Facebook all together
No, we don't want to see the sonagram image from your latest doctor's visit when we login to Facebook. Sometimes it's best to avoid places where people are likely to over share information whether you are prepared for it or not. A great little feature on your Facebook page is the hide post option. Look for the 'x' to the right of the story and press 'hide' to your heart's content. For those extra annoying posts, you can even go into your settings and hide someone from your news feed all together!
Don't read celebrity gossip
If they aren't talking about who's pregnant then they are speculating about who in Hollywood wants to get pregnant. The tabloids tend to glamourize celebrity pregnancies and make it appear as if it's easy to have babies. What they leave out are all the details about trips to fertility clinics, especially with older celeb moms. We're not naming any names but gossip magazines tend not to tell the whole story. Avoiding these type of publications may put things into perspective.
Set boundaries
The holidays can be an especially trying time. It may be difficult attending holiday parties with friends who have children who may unknowingly seem insensitive to what you are going through. Set boundaries to protect yourself from the emotions you may experience during social situations and seek out others who are going through similar circumstances for guidance and support.
Take some time to focus on yourself
Take a break from running around doing things for others to focus on yourself. A half day at the spa can be just what the doctor ordered after this especially emotional time of the year.
Write out what you are thankful for
Reflecting on what you are thankful for can be a fulfilling process. It's easy to focus on the negative when times seem tough but keeping a positive attitude will help maintain your focus on what is important when things get overwhelming.
When dealing with infertility sometimes you just need to laugh. That’s what Kristen Sullivan did. She turned her struggles to conceive into webisodes called None in the Oven. Partnering with writer-director Heather Hillstrom and producer Sarah Rath, Kristen who has stuggled from infertility herself used her own personal experiences to create the series of videos for the web.
In a press release announcing the show, which premiered on October 3, Kristen explained,
“Infertility is rarely talked about in movies or on TV, yet most people know someone who has struggled with it in some capacity…We saw an opportunity to make a web series that a lot of people could relate to – especially when we looked back and realized how funny our experiences had been.”
Have a look at the first video from None in the Oven and let us know what you think. http://youtu.be/i_r1rdOtA-g
Entertainment reporter and reality show star, Giuliana Rancic and her husband Bill Rancic have opened up about their conception troubles.
The couple who star in the reality show Giuliana & Bill get very personal while cameras follow them around documenting everything from egg retrievals to opening up about a miscarriage Giuliana suffered earlier this year. Although Rancic admitted she felt "vulnerable" sharing her story with the world, she also found it rewarding. "This guy came up to me, and he was like, 'Oh, I just want to thank you and your husband. You inspire my wife. She's going through IVF, and we know we're not alone,' It's really nice [to inspire others]," she said. "[And it's nice] that we can use our profiles to talk about it and make people feel better about themselves."
Giuliana, 35 and Bill, 40 have been trying for a baby since 2009 but have vowed to enjoy "all of the things we couldn't do if we had a baby," like "traveling" and "drinking lots of wine."
Through their struggle, the couple have maintained their optimism. “To quote Charlie Sheen: ‘We're winning,’ and anything else from here on out is a bonus. It’s a great bonus,” Giuliana has said.
Do you know anyone who has opened up about their infertility? Have you, yourself shared your feelings on trying to conceive?
An interesting finding came out of Stockholm, Sweden Tuesday. Fertility experts presented a study that found a link between poor dental health and the ability to conceive. Experts found gum disease delayed conception by an average of two months. Women take an average of five months to get pregnant, if under the age of 35. The study that was conducted in western Australia involved 3,416 pregnant women, most of them young and of Asian background. Interestingly, the article mentions that gum disease has also been linked to poor sperm quality.
Lead researcher Professor Roger Hart, of the University of Western Australia, said: "Until now, there have been no published studies that investigate whether gum disease can affect a woman's chance of conceiving, so this is the first report to suggest that gum disease might be one of several factors that could be modified to improve the chances of a pregnancy."
Aside from maintaining a healthy diet, taking folic acid supplements and refraining from consuming alcohol or smoking, you can now add regular dental checkups to your list of things to do before trying to conceive.
To read more on the study click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
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