At my job, I frequently network with physicians. This morning, I met with an OB/GYN to discuss the possibility of media opportunities. Infertility success stories came up, and I said that I assumed probably a lot of them ended up going to an infertility specialist. She said, no, actually, 80 percent of infertility cases are “cured” by an OB.
So, let me get this straight: Not only am I among a minority of women who have problems conceiving, but even among that population, I am part of the 20 percent who can’t be helped by an OB? Now, I know she is just promoting her practice when she says that, but still…I’m already an extreme case! That really bummed me out.
***UPDATE***
A few of you wise readers had some good points. I guess it really depends on what your definition of "infertile" is. Also, it depends on whether women are willing to spend years and years of throwing darts at the wall with their OB, or go to an RE to hopefully get some more clear answers, and some more exact treatments. So, I have decided I will just forget I even talked to her. Well, except for the work stuff. That I probably shouldn't forget.
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8 comments:
Honestly, that sounds like BS to me. I can't imagine that is the case. Perhaps 80% of women who come to see her because they have not gotten pregnant in a timeframe that they believed they should (say 4 months) get pregnant. Maybe those women know nothing about their reproductive cycles and are not timing intercourse correctly.
Of course, I am biased and don't want to believe that I am such a special case!
Seriously. I think she is just tooting her own horn. But, I know that a lot of OBGYNs prescribe Clomid (of course with no monitoring or anything like that) and it does work for a lot of people, and add those people to those that need to understand when to have sex, then I guess the minor cases can be treated by OBs. But maybe I would just call those sub-fertile, rather than infertile?
Wait, scratch that. I don't want to categorize people based on how fertile or infertile they are. After all, Clomid appears to have worked for me, and I certainly categorize myself as infertile!
My point is just that OBs can help with some stuff, but I do think that most people with trouble conceiving end up seeing a specialist eventually.
That can't be true.
I'm with Carrie that I think they may be subfertile, but perhaps not infertile. Often easy lifestyle changes can help those in the early stages of trying to conceive...lower your weight, quit smoking, exercise a bit less, change your diet, clomid, etc. However, once those are exhausted, the bigger guns need to be pulled out.
I agree with the others that the OB probably only helps with the "easy" cases.
I'm definitely a statistic. I'm trying to embrace it. Fighting's just too hard.
I agree with liw -- sounds like total BS to me, too. It's taken a long time for me to internalize that medical professionals don't always know what they are talking about, and I am hereby confidently lumping this into that category!
You deserve free zoo admission every day of the year. Here is your chocolate martini. With some alcohol filled chocolate cordials for dessert.
I think the definition of infertility is a big part of it. I also think that if you live far from an RE you may not have the option to cycle anywhere other than your OB. And it sounds like she's pulling statistics out of her bum a bit.
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