Member Journals

Donor Insemination Guidelines in Europe

The European Society of Human Reproduction & Embryology's (ESHRE) website offers a section that outlines the legal guidelines for the European countries that allow donor insemination.

San Antonio,TX Fertility Clinics Offering In Vitro Maturation

We recently received a question from a client asking about fertility clinics that perform in vitro maturation in San Antonio, Texas.

If you're looking for a similar service in San Antonio, your best bet is to find the nearest clinics in your area and ask them if they perform that service.

If they don't, ask if they can recommend you to someone who can. The same goes if the clinic is unwilling to perform the procedure; ask them if they can recommend someone who specializes in that area of assisted reproduction.

You may want to try:

Study Suggests Children of Lesbians are Well-Adjusted

The results from a 25-year study on children raised in lesbian households were recently published in the journal Pediatrics and suggest some controversial conclusions: children raised in lesbian households were psychologically well-adjusted and had fewer behavioral problems than their peers.

The study tracked 68 lesbian couples who had children via donor insemination (artificial insemination using a sperm donor) and analyzed the well-being of each couple's child (ren) through a series of interviews and questionnaires.

My Life as a Sperm Donor

This is an intriguing article from People magazine about one man's journey as a sperm donor. The article talks about sperm donation and interviews a doctor who donated sperm anpnymously for years, then decided to check out the donor sibling registry. After 6 years, he was contacted by a woman who used his sperm to conceive, and he went on to meet the 4 other women who had used him.

Sperm Comics

If you're interested in a little humor, check out the website Life as a Sperm. It is a fun comic strip centered on sperm's journey to the egg, and is amusing and witty. While some of the comics are just ok, others are laugh-out-loud funny.

Whether you're looking into donor insemination or just tryuing to cope with male-factor infertility or female-factor infertility, much of your life revolves around little swimmers, so you will appreciate this series.

Enjoy!

The American Fertility Association - Who Are They?

You see the name of The American Fertility Association (The AFA) passed along in fertility/infertility circles, but what exactly do they do and who are they?

This is a recent question from a visitor, so here is a run-down of who the AFA is and what they do. 

The AFA is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing infertility, and provides a number of free fertility-related resources and services for infertility prevention, family building and reproductive health.

Life as a Sperm - The Plan

There is a great, light-hearted comic series called "Life as a Sperm." It is quite amusing and a fun read if you have a little extra time. Here is an excerpt from the great folks at htpp://www.lifeasasperm.com:

Sperm Donors - Altruism vs Donating Sperm for Pay

This is a common topic we discuss with members; some donors help for purely altruistic reasons, others don't mind why the donor is giving, just that they are.

The reality lies somewhere between the two ideas. On one had, the financial incentive to donate sperm may be a big motivating factor. However, this doesn't mean that the donor doesn't want to help someone. Most guys probably see it as a win-win; they get paid to do something great for people.

A Conception Story

The title refers to a new web series by TLC and First Response (company that creates home pregnancy test kits) about women trying to conceive (TTC). The series follows 6 different women over 7 months on their journey towards conception.

You can see their stress, emotional struggles, joy, hope, successes and failures, driving home the point that you are definitely not alone.

Alternately inspiring and heart-breaking, they are well worth watching (and you just might learn something while you're at it).

Factors Contributing to Miscarriages

Miscarriage is one of those events a woman never wants to face, but the sad reality is that it does occur, especially in high-risk pregnancies. There are a number of factors that may cause a miscarriage, but these are just general, more common causes and don't in any way cover the broad reach of factors that may contribute to a miscarriages:

Thyroid Isssues

• Problems with the Thyroid may contribute to a miscarriage, or cause it.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS