Infertility Breakthrough!

As you know, I have been diagnosed with Unexplained Secondary Infertility. In almost three years of trying, I have not been able to get pregnant even once, even though by all accounts Craig and I are "super" fertile. In my doc's own words, "All the tests indicate that you and your husband are both so fertile you should have been able to get pregnant on the first try." No one could tell us what was wrong, and the only "advice" we have gotten is "Just relax and keep trying." That is terrible, unprofessional advice in my opinion. I mean, it's not like you would tell a cancer patient to "just relax" and then they will magically get all better!

We were thinking very seriously about adoption, but when my Craig lost his job, that dream got put on hold. We can't adopt until he has good job security.

So, I have been doing some research, and came a across a book by Dr. Alan Beer called "Is Your Body Baby-Friendly?" It talks about how our immune systems play a significant and even vital role in our fertility. Women who have any autoimmune diseases, or have a family history of them, are at risk for infertility. Basically, an autoimmune disease puts the immune system out of whack. In some cases, the immune system could be acting so aggressively so as to prevent a pregnancy from ever happening, or attacking the embryo, so it dies before it has the chance to implant. That totally blows my mind, thinking that I could be conceiving over and over, and yet my body is attacking the embryos.

I know I am at risk for this, because autoimmune diseases run in my family. A lot. In fact, I am beginning to develop arthritis in my hands and knees, and arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Believe it or not, there is a connection between that and infertility. Almost all autoimmune disease start the same way from the same cells, they just attack different parts of the body. People who have one type of autoimmune disease are at risk for developing other types. Thus is the case with infertility.

This is not to say that ALL infertility issues stem from an autoimmune disease, but many do, and I would not be at all surprised if such were the case for me. The great news is that it is treatable. I can undergo immunotherapy to help me conceive and bear a child. The clinics that do this say that a general success rate is to get pg within 3 cycles of starting the therapy. The down side is that the clinics are in California and Chicago - not exactly nearby.

I am not sure when exactly we would be able to get testing done and possibly start treatment. Craig just barely got a new job (yay!) so we will need to save for a bit. But I am hoping that by this time next year I can be pregnant:-) It is such an exciting thought! Finally, I may have found an answer, and a solution to go with it!