At least 130 children were born in Japan through in vitro fertilization using eggs donated abroad by third parties in the five years from 2007, according to a survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun.

In such cases, women visited foreign countries such as the United States to receive donated ova.

The average age of the women was 45, and the oldest woman was 58. About 90 percent of the cases were considered high-risk pregnancies or deliveries calling for special medical supervision.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION
Making Babies the Hard Way: Living with Infertility and Treatment
by Caroline Gallup

-- A frank account of one couple's discovery that they cannot have children of their own, and their ensuing struggle through four years of fertility treatment.

One in six couples worldwide seek assistance to conceive and 80 per cent of couples undergoing fertility treatment are currently unsuccessful.

Writing with humour and honesty, Caroline Gallup describes the social, emotional, spiritual and physical impact of infertility on her and her husband, Bruce, including feelings of bereavement for the absent child, the unavoidable sense of inadequacy and the day-to-day difficulties of financial pressure.

As well as telling her own moving story, she also offers information and guidance for others who are infertile, or who are considering or undergoing treatment.

Paperback: 240 pages
Click to order/for more info: Making Babies the Hard Way
Find it on Amazon: US | CDN | UK

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It's quite irritating when assumptions are thrown around -- and this goes for anything, but especially when it comes to the touchy subject of age and women.

1. It's assumed we had IVF to get pregnant.
2. People think older mom are having hot flashes when we run after our kids at the playground.
3. Younger moms say they would never ever ever have a baby after 35 as if it's as bad as electing to have a year-long urinary tract infection.
4. People think 35 is old.
5. Anyone 65 or older is too old to be a grandma, and they should just bury themselves to save the rest of us the time.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
It Starts with the Egg:
How the Science of Egg Quality Can Help You Get Pregnant Naturally, Prevent Miscarriage, and Improve Your Odds in IVF
by Rebecca Fett

-- Whether you are trying to conceive naturally or through IVF, the quality of your eggs will have a powerful impact on how long it takes you to get pregnant and whether you face an increased risk of miscarriage.

Poor egg quality is emerging as the single most important cause of age-related infertility, recurrent miscarriage, and failed IVF cycles. It is also a major contributor to infertility in PCOS.

Based on a comprehensive investigation of a vast array of scientific research, It Starts with the Egg reveals a groundbreaking new approach for improving egg quality and fertility.

With a concrete strategy including minimizing exposure to toxins such as BPA and phthalates, choosing the right vitamins and supplements to safeguard developing eggs, and harnessing nutritional advice shown to boost IVF success rates, this book offers practical solutions to will help you get pregnant faster and deliver a healthy baby.

Paperback: 304 pages
Click to order/for more info: It Starts with the Egg

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CycleBeads.com launched iCycleBeads™ Online, a web application enabling women to plan or prevent pregnancy through a private internet account. It is the only web app in the world based on the popular Standard Days Method®, a natural family planning method that:

♥ Was developed and tested in large-scale clinical trials by the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University.
♥ Is proven +95% effective as natural birth control and is the most effective natural family planning method in typical use according to "Contraceptive Technology".
♥ Is designed for women with cycles between 26 and 32 days long and identifies days 8 through 19 as potentially fertile days.
♥ Requires a woman to only track the first day of her period in order to use; other fertility awareness methods require daily analysis of fertility symptoms.

iCycleBeads Online is available for a free trial at www.CycleBeads.com , and costs $12 per year for a subscription.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
CycleBeads
-- CycleBeads are an easy way to use a natural family planning method.

They make it simple for a woman to track her cycle and clearly identify the days she could become pregnant and the days when pregnancy is most unlikely.

CycleBeads are based on a natural family planning method that is more than 95% effective when used correctly.

Click for more info

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Soda may be linked to reduced fertility. The more soda a woman drank, the lower her chances of conceiving a child, according to one study.

Women who drank three sodas daily were half as likely to get pregnant as women who avoided soda, according to American and Danish researchers.

And caffeine from soda and other beverages may be linked to birth defects such as Spina Bifida, according to the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. More research is needed.

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Photo credit: ywel
Some rights reserved

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:

What Every Woman Should Know About Fertility and Her Biological Clock
by Cara Birrittieri

-- Until now, there has been little practical advice on what women can do about ticking biological clocks.

What Every Woman Should Know About Her Biological Clock is the first book to explore a woman's reproductive life span completely, from beginning to end.

Based on Cara Birrittieri's own experience of running up against a slowing biological clock, she shows women for the first time how to "tell what time it is" with a simple blood test that gives them a peek at the state of their ovaries.

Paperback: 224 pages
Click to order/for more info: What Every Woman Should Know About Fertility and Her Biological Clock

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Taking the below nutrients daily may help men maintain erectile function and may even boost their fertility by increasing sperm mobility and motility.

♥ 800 micrograms folate
♥ The recommend daily allotments of B vitamins
♥ 3 grams omega-3 fatty acids daily
♥ 15 micrograms zinc
♥ The recommended daily allotment of vitamin C

To help preserve sexual function, men should consider taking 2g of L-arginine, an amino acid found in pumpkin seeds and other foods including almonds, cocoa and real chocolate, garbanzo beans, peanuts, salmon, soy and walnuts, as well as 500 microgram of L-citrulline twice a day.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Test tubes and testosterone (Male In-fertility)
-- What do you need to make a baby? A willing partner? A good sense of timing? Some wine maybe? A nice meal and some amorous music? Not always.

There are times when all the romance (and luck) just simply will not do.

In those times, what you need is a specimen pot, a heap of drugs, so many ultra-sound scans that your wife or partner begins to glow in the dark and an unfeasibly large amount of tea.

Providing a rare yet enlightening male perspective on the world of IVF, 'Test tubes and testosterone' is one man's experience of in-fertility and the IVF journey he embarked on with his wife in order to start a family.

Told with humour, wit and insight, this book sheds light on issues that can be hard to discuss even with the closest of friends or relatives, making it a valuable book for anyone contemplating or going through IVF.

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More "Pregnancy Over 40" blogs to visit:
Life Begins... - Pregnancy stories of loss, hope & help
Pregnancy Stories by Age - Daily blog of hope & inspiration!
You Can Get Pregnant in Your 40's - Sharing articles, discussing options & suggestions
Stories of Pregnancy and Birth over 44 years old - sharing news stories I find online, for inspiration!

A recent report in the Journal of Advanced Nursing found that 96 percent of women in an IVF preconception study faced lifestyle issues and health risks, but that nearly half of the women weren’t willing or prepared to change their habits.

Why would women who are ready to go through the difficult process of IVF not be agreeable to changing – even if just temporarily – some of aspects of their lifestyle to better their chances of conception?

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Garden of Fertility: A Guide to Charting Your Fertility Signals to Prevent or Achieve Pregnancy--Naturally--and to Gauge Your Reproductive Health
by Katie Singer

-- A guide to using fertility awareness - that is, reading fertility signals in order to prevent or achieve pregnancy.

Certified fertility educator Katie Singer explains how to observe and chart fertility cycles to determine when a woman is most fertile to increase chances of conception, or to exercise birth control naturally - a method that, when followed precisely, is as effective as the Pill.

Unlike other books on fertility awareness, The Garden of Fertility also describes how to use the charts to gauge gynecological health and offers non-medical options for strengthening reproductive wellness.

This book provides all the information women never learned in sex education class, but should have.

Paperback: 320 pages
Click to order/for more info: The Garden of Fertility

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When I was trying to get pregnant, I had a stack of books about fertility, fertility and diet, fertility and health, and memoirs of women trying, with varying degrees of success, to get pregnant.

I would have LOVED The Impatient Woman’s Guide to Getting Pregnant by Jean M. Twenge PhD.

This book sounds awesome: like all the fertility books I ever read summarized by my smartest girlfriend. Conversational and smart, it talks about the emotions as well as the plumbing of getting pregnant.

So, if you’re a woman like me who needs a library of books and websites to consult during the sometimes harrowing process of trying to conceive, this book looks like a great addition to the stack on your bedside table!

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant
by Jean M. Twenge Ph.D.

-- Complete guide to the medical, psychological, social, and sexual aspects of getting pregnant, told in a funny, compassionate way, like talking to a good friend who's been through it all.

And in fact, Dr. Jean Twenge has been through it all—the mother of three young children, she started researching fertility when trying to conceive for the first time.

A renowned sociologist and professor at San Diego State University, Dr. Twenge brought her research background to the huge amount of information—sometimes contradictory, frequently alarmist, and often discouraging—that she encountered online, from family and friends, and in books, and decided to go into the latest studies to find out the real story.

The good news is:
There is a lot less to worry about than you've been led to believe. Dr. Twenge gets to the heart of the emotional issues around getting pregnant, including how to prepare mentally and physically when thinking about conceiving, how to talk about it with family, friends, and your partner, and how to handle the great sadness of a pregnancy loss; as well as how to know when you’re ovulating, when to have sex, timing your pregnancy, maximizing your chances of getting pregnant, how to tilt the odds toward having a boy or a girl, and the best prenatal diet.

Trying to conceive often involves an enormous amount of emotion, from anxiety and disappointment to hope and joy.

With comfort, humor, and straightforward advice, The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant is the bedside companion to help you through it.

Paperback: 256 pages
Click to order/for more info: The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant

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Scientists have discovered chemical compounds that increase the swimming ability of sperm cells and they believe this can help to boost the number of cells capable of reaching a woman's egg.

They are now using the compounds to develop a new gel they hope will increase the chance of couples conceiving naturally without the need for expensive treatments such as IVF.

Their research could also help doctors to select healthier cells for use in assisted conception like IVF and intrauterine insemination.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
In-fertility Journeys: Finding Your Happy Ending
-- tells the family-building journeys of eighteen couples who struggle with in-fertility and how they find their happy endings.

Written with honesty, humor, and compassion, In-fertility Journeys weaves the stories of women and men together with a wealth of information about fertility treatments, and the emotional struggles couples experience.

The book offers hope, encouragement, and inspiration, helping women and men to process unmet expectations and to navigate their family-building options.

Overflowing with ideas and suggestions.

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Next week is In-fertility Week. In-fertility affects 1 out of 8 couples. Proper nutrition can greatly increase your odds of getting pregnant. In fact, poor diet and lack of exercise may be the biggest contributor to in-fertility in the US today.

Poor diet and lack of exercise triggers insulin resistance in all of us and this disrupts ovulation, and negatively affects the quality and health of sperm and eggs.

On today's "Smart Choices," our nutrition contributor Hana Feeney stopped by with some foods you can eat to curtail the risk of in-fertility.

Below are her recommendations:

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:

Acupuncture and IVF: Increase IVF Success by 40-60%
by Lifang Liang

-- The information in this book can increase your success rate with in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technologies (ART) by as much as 60%.

Research has shown that acupuncture alone can increase the success rate of IVF by 35%. By also adding Chinese herbal medicine, it is Dr. Lifang Liangs experience that you can almost double that increase.

In this book, Dr. Liang describes her extremely successful step-by-step protocols for combining acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine with IVF.

Whether you are a Western MD specializing in infertility, a Chinese medical practitioner, or a couple experiencing difficulties in conceiving, this book is sure to give you new hope and a new approach to dealing with this all too common and difficult condition.

Paperback: 224 pages
Click to order/for more info: Acupuncture and IVF

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Isabella Potter from Wigan was the first baby born using a new fertility technique that allows parents to watch their baby from the moment of conception.

To see her as an embryo was so special. Up until now no parent has seen their child at that magical moment of life.

To think that Isabella, lying in my arms now, was that tiny speak when she started out, as we all are, was so precious. None of us have ever seen ourselves at the very start of life but Isabella will be able to.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Budgeting for In-fertility: How to Bring Home a Baby Without Breaking the Bank
-- Having a baby can be one of the most wonderful times of your life -- but if you need help to conceive, it can swiftly become a staggeringly expensive undertaking.

With the average cost of in-fertility treatments ranging from $35,000 to $85,000 in the United States (most of which is not covered by insurance companies), many women and couples find themselves having to make difficult choices about building their families.

Getting a grip on your finances is one of the few things you can do to regain control of this process. In-fertility experts Evelina Weidman Sterling and Angie Best-Boss have created the ultimate guide to ensuring the most cost-effective care with the highest chances for success.

With anecdotes, interviews, and advice from both doctors and patients, you can easily apply these specific money-saving strategies to your own unique situation.
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Although TV and magazine ads would have you believe male fertility is a topic that is out in the open, for many men this is not a conversation you have amongst family, friends and sometimes even with your own doctor.

However, with families that are facing fertility issues, the male is often overlooked as a reason for the problem. Unlike the female menstrual cycle, there are no signs or symptoms that identifies a problem in male fertility.

So the question is how can you help boost your sperm count and quality? These are some of the most recent supplement and vitamin recommendations, which consists of high amounts of anti-oxidants to help decrease oxidative stress (cell damage) on your sperm cells.

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Stock Photo credit: ColinBroug
All rights reserved

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Overcoming Male In-fertility
-- Hope and strategies for couples dealing with male in-fertility If you or your partner is suffering from male in-fertility, you're not alone.

Millions of couples are struggling with this problem. About 40% of these couples have exclusively male in-fertility problems, while another 20% have both male and female in-fertility problems.

Now, two leading experts, a urologist specializing in male in-fertility and a psychologist, team up to write the most complete guide available on male in-fertility.

From the latest, state-of-the-art treatments to advice on how to handle the emotional aspects of male in-fertility, you'll find out where to get the help you need.

Overcoming Male In-fertility also covers the psychological issues that are unique to men, and gives advice to women on helping their man through the trauma of in-fertility treatment--including how to get him to see a doctor in the first place.

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The first human eggs grown from human stem cells could be fertilized with human sperm cells later this year, potentially revolutionizing fertility treatment for women.

This could be one more step on the path toward reproduction sans human interaction — in this case, a potential parent wouldn’t even need to donate her eggs.

But it could also turn stem cells into an infinite loop, of egg cells into embryos into stem cells, and on and on, in a fractal-like repetition of reproduction.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Budgeting for In-fertility: How to Bring Home a Baby Without Breaking the Bank
-- Having a baby can be one of the most wonderful times of your life -- but if you need help to conceive, it can swiftly become a staggeringly expensive undertaking.

With the average cost of in-fertility treatments ranging from $35,000 to $85,000 in the United States (most of which is not covered by insurance companies), many women and couples find themselves having to make difficult choices about building their families.

Getting a grip on your finances is one of the few things you can do to regain control of this process. In-fertility experts Evelina Weidman Sterling and Angie Best-Boss have created the ultimate guide to ensuring the most cost-effective care with the highest chances for success.

With anecdotes, interviews, and advice from both doctors and patients, you can easily apply these specific money-saving strategies to your own unique situation.

Read more

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While there are a host of tablet accessories on the market that are designed for comfort and aesthetics, not many are geared to absorb excessive heat. For men, it has been medically proven by the State University of New York at Stony Brook that extreme heat from devices held in a man's lap lowers sperm count and increases in-fertility risks.

The iBuddy offers the ultimate in comfort and protection, not only creating a nearly weightless experience with their internal weight-shifting material but also absorbing and redirecting the heat emitted from the iPad 3 and other tablets.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
In-fertility and Adoption: A Husband and Father's Perspective
-- Roy Sokol offers men a chance to be heard and women a rare opportunity to view the struggle with in-fertility from a male perspective.

In-fertility and Adoption: A Husband and Father's Perspective brings to life the frustration, anger, humor, heartbreak, and sense of helplessness and a mental philosophy learned in Marine Corps training that helps in overcoming the psychological barriers.

While miracles in technology have brought joy to new families, those very advances have placed many couples into a spiraling cycle of hope and heartbreak. One failed attempt may lead to another, but how do you give up when there is always another doctor, another procedure holding the possibility of your dream for a family?

Roy Sokol has captured the emotional turmoil he and his wife, Elizabeth, endured as they tried to conceive, the years their lives were put on hold, and the excruciating sense of loss and finally great happiness.

He writes too of the couple's journey through the bewildering world of adoption - a path to parenthood fraught with financial, legal, and emotional risks of its own.

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Your nail polish may have toxic chemicals that can lead to birth defects and in-fertility, according to a new study conducted by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control.

While the nail polishes claimed to be toxic free, the researchers found many of the samples contained the “toxic trio”—toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and formaldehyde.

Toluene causes headaches, nausea and dizziness. DBP has been linked to fertility problems and formaldehyde is a known carcinogen.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
A Few Good Eggs: Two Chicks Dish on Overcoming the Insanity of In-fertility
-- We are bombarded by images of blissful older mothers, such as Madonna and Celine Dion. But 'Hollywood' articles about pregnancy and fertility at middle age gloss over the tremendous amount of financial, emotional, and physical effort faced by couples struggling to conceive.

Ranges from technical to humorous and everything in between. What are good, snappy comebacks to the question, 'Why aren't you pregnant?' What is the difference between gonadotrophin releasing hormone and progesterone? Should you freeze your eggs?

These questions and many more are answered, and in the tone of a couple of good friends. Between them, the authors have gone through hormone treatments, pregnancy losses and multiple inseminations -- so they know firsthand the rollercoaster ride of trying to achieve pregnancy.

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called on the drug company Merck to extend warnings about possible sexual side effects of the two drugs Propecia and Proscar.

These two drugs commonly used for treating male baldness and enlarged prostate need more warnings on labels about their potential risk of causing in-fertility and sexual dysfunction.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
How to Make Love to a Plastic Cup: A Guy's Guide to the World of Infertility
by Greg Wolfe

-- The man's guide to anything and everything in the infertility universe.

Greg Wolfe went through four cycles of IVF on his rocky journey to fatherhood—and now, with profound sympathy and side-splitting humor, he lays it all out for guys on similar baby-making quests.

How to Make Love to a Plastic Cup is not your typical nuts and bolts (no pun intended) medical guide but a helpful handbook designed specifically with the male partner in mind, with answers to his most pressing questions about the infertility process...

Paperback: 256 pages
Click to order/for more info: How to Make Love to a Plastic Cup

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(NewsUSA) - While women are often the first to undergo a battery of tests when conception is slow to happen, almost half of all in-fertility problems are directly attributed to the male.

Low sperm count is the most common culprit, so analyzing sperm count is considered a key first step by in-fertility specialists.

However, a new survey conducted for SpermCheck Fertility, the only FDA-approved at-home sperm count screening test, finds that only 17 percent of men ever get tested.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Brotherhood of Joseph: A Father's Memoir of Infertility and Adoption in the 21st Century
by Brooks Hansen

-- Offering men a chance to be heard and women a rare opportunity to view the struggle with infertility from a male perspective, The Brotherhood of Joseph brings to life the anger, frustration, humor, heartbreak, and sense of helplessness that come to dominate the husband's role.

As his remarkable account reaches its finale in Siberia, however, Hansen's once again becomes the story of a husband and a wife who, even after years of medical frustration and fruitless paperwork, still must take one last risk together and trust in their most basic instincts before their new family can be born.

Start reading The Brotherhood of Joseph on your Kindle in under a minute!

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If the feedback from mommy blogs like Baby Kerf and Offbeat Mama is any indication, women have been waiting a long time for a more aesthetically pleasing charting site for the fertility awareness method.

Ova Ova, launched in February by Amanda Kohler, and her husband Kevin, has stepped into the gap left by an ages-old birth control method in need of a technology update.

For $36 a year, a woman can track her fertility on a site that's easy to interact with and easy on the eyes. Instead of the traditional line graph, users see their fertility charted in columns of blue and green, a bulls-eye that pinpoints ovulation, data entry for exercise and nutrition, and a tasteful heart emblem to mark intercourse.

NOTE: They are offering a free 30 day trial, with no credit card required.

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TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:

Enhancing Fertility: A Couple's Guide to Natural Approaches
by Chris D. Meletis and Liz Brown

-- This book is dedicated to the millions of couples who are trying to get pregnant without success.

Rather than assuming that you are infertile, you can try the many reliable natural remedies and resources in this book.

Barring physical problems beyond your control, you have the power to take charge of your health and boost your fertility.

The authors' goal is simple: to provide a clear guide to conception based on natural, safe, well-researched therapeutic approaches.

Nutritional, environmental, botanical, and physical medicines, as well as traditional Chinese medical practices and homeopathy, all offer ways to promote fertility.

Both men and women will find a wealth of helpful information on what to do-individually and together--to fully realize their fertility potential.

Even if infertility isn't a problem, and you are simply planning to get pregnant and want to deliver a healthy baby, this book will help improve your chances.

Anyone seeking to become a parent will benefit from this book's practical, time-tested wisdom.

The healthier a woman is, the greater likelihood the seed of life will find fertile soil and grow into a healthy baby.

Paperback: 202 pages
Click to order/for more info: Enhancing Fertility

Start reading Enhancing Fertility on your Kindle in under a minute!

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