Infertility, Treatments for

Although some infertile couples remain childless or adopt, others pursue their desires for biological children more fervently. Factors influencing the decision to pursue fertility treatments include family, cultural, and women's reproductive histories; financial and material resources; marital status; political and legal [Page 755]conditions; medical options; the physical and mental health of women and those close to them; religious beliefs; views on adoption; and internal and external pressures to become parents. Further, physicians often pair infertility diagnoses with optimistic treatment prognoses and generally the middle class embraces medical discourse, irrespective of race and education. This article outlines available treatment options, usage and success rates, and personal and societal implications of fertility treatments.

Treatment Options

Transcript

• All these babies have one thing in common: they were all conceived and born in this small clinic in the city of Anand in Gujarat. Each year more than 250 women sign up to be surrogates here. There are currently 50 active surrogates waiting to get pregnant or give birth. For mothers like Christine, who didn’t want her surname used, what happens here is nothing short of a miracle.
• She and her husband tried IVF unsuccessfully in Canada. Biologically the twins are theirs, but it was their surrogate, Opina, who gave birth.
• There’s an industry out there that’s very complicated – the whole fertility industry. And I think there needs to be more openness towards surrogacy as an option, instead of continual repeat visits and an encouragement for IVF cycles to continue.
• On average, three babies are born to surrogates here each month. The women come from Anand and surrounding villages. Used to living on just $50 a month, they can earn $7,500 in one pregnancy – more than 10 years’ normal wages. Surrogacy is not illegal here although attempts are being made to bring in laws to safeguard surrogates’ rights. Using a surrogate here can be five times cheaper than in the West.
• There are so many couples who back out, who have enquired, who would say that, ‘We would like to come’ but then they say, ‘Doctor, we are worried about our jobs right now, and without a job what good are we going to do to the child that’s going to come to us?’
• 26-year-old Opina needed the money for her family: she has a young son of her own. The babies are handed over immediately after birth, but as paperwork takes time, usually it’s about one month before they leave. These pictures will soon be her only reminder.
• I feel very happy because now one couple have their own children and I gave them their children, so I’m happy. But on the other hand I also feel very sad because I was the one who delivered them.
• Everyone gathers to give thanks as another set of parents prepares to take their child back to Japan. Like many of the surrogates, Opina says she will do it again. This first surrogacy has helped pay for a house for her family. Another surrogacy, she says, would provide money to ensure a better future for her own child.

Regardless of male or female factor infertility, almost all treatments focus on the woman. Most women start with hormonal treatments, yet one drug, Clomid, which stimulates the ovaries to release eggs, is sometimes administered to men with low sperm count.

...