BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Infertility Danger with Fertility Drugs

I just read February's edition of O Magazine (by Oprah) and I was shocked to read about the high risks that are associated with so many fertility drugs that are commonly prescribed. Clomid was one of them. One of the biggest risks was Ovarian Cancer.

The article was informative but it also made me wonder if the fertility clinics really care about the health of the women taking the drugs or just the fast buck.

I know that some women really want to have a child, but if the risk is to seriously damage or even kill yourself, you won't do the child much good! I agree too, some of those clinics probably just want the cash and don't care about the long term effects down the road.

I agree Lisa! I think that it's bad that there are some places that prey on a woman's desire to have a baby.

On another note, one of the doctor's in the article was sentenced to jail time for inseminating over 20 eggs with his sperm instead of an anonymous donor.

Yikes so now not only is he using the women to get rich but he is fulfilling some sort of twisted fantasy of having them all bear his child???

I know..GROSS!

As a former infertility patient, I never felt the doctors were "preying" on my desire to have a baby. In fact, despite my desire to continue, the doctor told me that there was no point because of ovarian resistance. And, in addition, the clinic didn't even charge their fee for my second IVF cycle monitoring. My body didn't respond to the drugs, so it was cancelled.

The desire to bear a child is biological and very difficult to cope with when unable to do so. I am now postmenopausal -- 1st known when I was 37 yrs old. Did the infertility drugs cause that or was I infertile because I was perimenopausal? No one can answer that question -- and trust me I asked many people.

At the time I was trying to get pregnant, I didn't care if I was risking cancer. :rolling: That was too far down the line for me. And, knock on wood, so far so good.

There are unethical people in every profession, the MDs in infertility are in a lucrative business, but the ones I worked with were all ethical.

I too, used infertility drugs, Clomid to be exact--which is about the mildest one out there. It's true that women battling infertility don't often ask about the risks associated with the medications. Surgery maybe, but the meds? No.

At least I didn't. I think it is a lot like smoker's philosophy---it may kill me eventually, but right now its worth it.

Sometimes we can't see past having a baby. :rolleyes:

I went through Infertility treatment about 2 years ago. I asked all the questions but did not get straight forward answers about anything even the costs. I was shocked when I got my first bill. This was after the treatment was unsuccessful. They had told me "we will bill it in such away that your insurance will cover it". Well this was not the case and I ended up with a nine thousands of dollar bill.

I was also shuttled from one nurse to another none knowing me or my concerns or even seeming to care. I only saw the Doctor once and that was at the begining,it felt like he was selling me on the program.

If there are people out there that have had positive experiences I would love to hear about them and the name of their Doctor.

I went to Michael Doyle, MD, in Norwalk, CT.

I have been writing about women's fertility issues for several years now. Many, many women contact me desperate and afraid they'll never have a baby. Unless you have lived through infertility you really have no idea what it is like to live with the depression, anxiety and fear that go along with infertility.

I tried natural approaches to getting pregnant and in my situation, that just wasn't going to happen. Clomid carries a slight increase in risk of cancer If you take it for longer than 12 cycles in your entire life. It is also one of the cheapest fertility drugs and has fewer side effects than most. Clomid can cause major health problems such as ovarian hyperstimulation as well. However, with careful monitoring by your doctor, Clomid is a reasonable option for infertility treatment.

I used Clomid for one month at the lowest dose (50MG). It didn't make me ovulate and it made me feel really strange, like I couldn't think.

I have been on Femara for several days now and have had no side effects at all. I am little tired, but I am not sure if that is the Femara or my stress over all of the infertility stuff right now. I don't yet know if it will make me ovulate, but my OPK is showing an increase in LH.

I do find it interesting that most people think nothing of eating french fries (which carry an increased risk of breast and colon cancer with every bite) or drinking cola (aspartame wreaks havoc with your endocrine system, caffeine disrupts fertility, and corn syrup leads to obesity and diabetes). These same people are quick to say that infertile women should not risk using fertility drugs. Your risk of dying from cancer is higher with the typical American diet than it is with fertility drugs.

[color:"blue"] You'll do ok if you find the right doctor, that'll monitor you, but finding the good doctor will require much search. [/color]