IVF
Book Musings
Fortitude
Life After Infertility: One Decade, Many Thoughts
Life after infertility and what I’ve learned comprises my last blog post of this decade. To new readers: Welcome! You’ll find thoughts and 10+ years of remembrance courtesy of a recent interview, a Q&A, with an Australian editor. Updated February 2020: You can now see the full interview at The Grace Tales. 1) Pamela, can […]
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What I Wish I'd Know Then
IVF Add-ons Racket: New Oversight Needed
IVF add-ons are the dirty little secret in the ‘fertility’ industry. These interventions are the latest in a long history of the industry experimenting on women. As I moved from IVF patient to patient advocate I’ve had the opportunity to monitor the industry from a unique perspective. You can see it unfold the past decade […]
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Bioethics
Defining Abuse in Assisted Reproductive Technology
Abuse is a strong word. A formal definition of abuse is to “treat (a person or an animal) with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly.” Mistreatment is one synonym. Linking Abuse with IVF I will travel from the U.S. to London later this week. Once there I will collaborate with clinicians, bioethicists, social scientists, […]
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Another Perspective
Pop Culture
An idea for Michelle Obama: Use 2019 bully pulpit to convey IVF risks, realities
Michelle Obama can help educate her audiences and followers about the reality of IVF and its risks.
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Movies
Pop Culture
Private Life Portrays Infertility Complexities, IVF Agony
Private Life breaks new ground by not flattening or sugar coating IVF. This film instead presents a multi-faceted story complete with the hellish, inhumane clinic experience and callous staff. Every ounce of the indignity that accompanies IVF is here to see. You will realize moments into Private Life that Tamara Jenkins, the writer and director […]
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News Reports and Studies
Fertility Clinics Draw New Scrutiny
Fertility clinics have operated with impunity for 40 years. New reporting, though, raises issues about their business motives and commitment to patient well-being. If you’d asked me 12 years ago, will the headline “Fertility Clinics Under Fire” ever run on the cover of an international women’s magazine, my answer would likely have been: What, Why? […]
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News Reports and Studies
Dark side of IVF comes into focus 40 years later
Editor’s Note: I researched and wrote this piece, As dark side of IVF slowly comes into focus, even more transparency is needed, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of IVF. My thanks to the editorial team at STAT, the Boston Globe Media health site for publishing it. Excerpt: I was 15 in 1978 when Louise […]
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Bioethics
Tapestry of Voices
That IVF Sausage Factory
IVF is a Sausage Factory I was not Prepared For… So writes Professor James Arvanitakis in an essay for The Sydney Morning Herald. Oh how we hear you, James. We are immensely grateful for your honesty. In a few paragraphs you painted a clear picture of what it feels like to be on the receiving […]
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News Reports and Studies
New Studies Call Out IVF Clinic Tone Deafness, Profiteering
A recent IVF study led by Yale sociology associate professor Rene Almeling stopped me in my tracks, but for reasons surely different than the research team. The IVF study goal was to “assess whether different motivations for undergoing the same medical intervention affects bodily experiences.” Published in the September Journal of Social Science and Medicine, […]
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Fortitude
Psychology
What Will Life Be Like if IVF Fails?
When IVF fails. Imagine if this very real outcome was the compassionately finessed starting point of any fertility-related discussion. Novel, don’t you agree? It’s the inverse of how the IVF sales pitch begins at ‘fertility’ clinics. The lack of preparation for IVF failure creates unforeseen hazards. It also leaves those left to confront an IVF […]
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