Women Corner

Over the last 20 years there has been an unprecedented spike in the amount of couples using fertility drugs. Many claim this is because men and women alike are choosing to begin having children at an older age. Hopeful expectants should be wary however, as there is always the potential risk of side effects introducing new hormones into the body.

With fertility drugs being on the rise, many rumors have emerged that link it’s use with ovarian cancer. Over the last year however, scientists have debunked this myth. While we still do not completely understand how foreign hormones react with our body, fertility drugs do not cause or accelerate any form of cancer.

The biggest risk involved with using fertility medication or treatment is the possibility of multiple births. Multiples can posed serious health risks to both mother and the babies. Although specific regulations regarding the volume of fertility medication that can be offered are in place in most states, multiple births still happen quite frequently when using fertility drugs. Multiples are often much smaller than average babies because mothers typically will not go a full-term 40 weeks with them. Our bodies simply can’t support two babies for that long.

When children are born early they can potentially be facing a rough firs few years. Learning disorders, stunted development or growth, and a weaker infant immune system are just a few of the risks involved with smaller babies resulting from multiple births and fertility medication.

The mother also runs a very high risk of danger with multiple births. Multiples put twice as much strain on a new mother and cause the body to strain harder to support the twins or triplets. It goes without saying that delivering multiple babies does significant damage to our reproduction systems and takes much longer to fully heal.

Having difficulty getting pregnant can be a pretty horrible time. Many hopeful couples will try anything to help them conceive and unfortunately there are far too many doctors readily recommending fertility medication before exhausting other, more safe options. Make sure you’ve done your homework and understand all the potential risks involved with fertility medication before starting on a program of this nature. .

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