6 Part 4: Moving from No-Tech to High-Tech Conception Chapter 14: First: The Lower-Tech Options Seeking Personalized Fertility Treatment Jump-Starting Your Ovaries Considering Artificial Insemination Checking out the Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation Option Injecting hCG to Mature Your Eggs Ensuring Proper Monitoring throughout Your Cycle Deciding When to Pursue Higher-Tech Options Chapter 15: Going High-Tech: Welcome to the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Club What IVF Means for You Switching Doctors: Will a Change Really Matter? Choosing the Best Clinic for You Addressing the High Costs of IVF It’s the Law! States That Mandate Fertility Coverage Fighting City Hall: Insurance Appeals When Having Insurance Doesn’t Help Getting Creative When You’re Out of Other Options Getting Your Medications for Less Chapter 16: Ready, Steady, Go! Starting Your IVF Cycle Preparing for a Roller Coaster Ride of Emotions Taking a Shot in the Dark: Time for hCG Heading to the Big Dance: The Egg Retrieval Your Partner Is Busy Too After the Dance: Do’s and Don’ts for a Happy Recovery Answering Common Post-IVF Questions Post-Retrieval Pills and Potions The Waiting Game: Knowing What’s Next Chapter 17: The Care and Feeding of an Embryo: Amazing Teamwork in the Lab Recognizing a Good Egg When You See One Prepping Sperm to Meet the Egg Looking at What Can Go Wrong When Egg Meets Sperm The High-Tech Meet-and-Greet: Doing ICSI Answering the Call About the Embryos Testing That Embryo: Checking Genetics Before the Transfer Hatching Embryos — Come on Out of There! Looking at the Embryos’ Next Home: Your Uterine Lining Undergoing the Embryo Transfer Post Transfer Tips and Boosts Chapter 18: Keeping Your Head in the Game: Successfully Waiting after an IVF Cycle Not “Not Pregnant” — But Waiting for Proof Sensing Every Little Twinge: The Truth about Pregnancy Symptoms Checking on Your Own: Home Pregnancy Test Traps Waiting for the News Responding to Good News: OMG! Taking the Next Step if IVF Doesn’t Work Keeping Embryos on Ice Regrouping and Future Planning Chapter 19: Staying Afloat When You’re Drowning in a Sea of Fertility Data Exploring the Link Between Information and the Care You Receive Choosing What’s Best for You
7
Part 5: Exploring Alternative Routes to Conception
Chapter 20: Considering Third-Party Reproduction Options
Deciding to Use Donor Eggs, Sperm, or Embryos
Protecting Yourselves When Considering a Donor for Anything
Heading to the Bank — the Sperm or Egg “Cryo” Bank, That Is
Shopping at an Egg Bank
Selecting a Donor for a “Fresh” Donor Egg Cycle
Enlisting the Aid of a Surrogate
Embryo Donation
Telling your Pregnancy Story (or Not)
Modern Families: Getting Pregnant
Chapter 21: Moving On: Not Necessarily the End of The Road
Letting Go of the Dream
Opting to Adopt
Deciding to be a “Family of Two” — Living Child-Free
Chapter 22: The Future is Now! New Advances, New Concerns in Fertility
Looking into the Future: Long-Term Health Effects of Fertility Medication
Gathering