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Infertility 101 in the Baltimore Sun

by Gabrielle on January 31st, 2008

There is a fantastic article in the Baltimore Sun this morning entitled, “Addressing Infertility in Women.”

Howard A. Zacur, director of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, answers several frequently asked questions about infertility in a way that is understandable and sympathetic. I am so used to reading exposes about sperm and egg donor databanks, furor around the alleged surrogate market in other countries and human interest stories that focus, like Tyra, on words like “desperate,” “baby-crazed,” and “obsessed,” that this factual piece written in simple language is an absolute breath of fresh air. Here’s a sample from the article:

What are some of the causes of infertility?

When I talk to patients about this, I say, “OK, in order to become pregnant, you have to have eggs in the ovaries. You have to release them or ovulate. You have to have a partner or a source of sperm. And the passageway from the vagina to the cervix and fallopian tubes must be open in order to allow sperm and egg to meet. So any problem along those lines will result in infertility.

Yes. Of course. It’s so simple. But yet so complicated.

The article goes on to discuss some of the most common fertility therapies and costs. The online version contains links to helpful sites like NIH and Hopkins itself. Well done, Sun!

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POSTED IN: FYI, IVF, infertility treatments, living with infertility, male factor infertility, medical procedures