Physician as Patient

As a physician, Laurie had been goal-oriented all her life. She was accustomed to identifying objectives and finding the path needed to get them done. Facing her infertility, however, was a different story.

"With infertility, you can work hard and be diligent in taking the shots, but in the end, it's really up to God and there's not a whole lot you can do about it."

Laurie and her husband, Christopher, had put off having children while she progressed through her medical training. She was in the midst of her residency at MGH when they tried to start their family. After six months of unsuccessfully trying on their own, Laurie sought help from her gynecologist who put her on Clomid. Three cycles and six months later, Laurie still was not pregnant. Her gynecologist referred her to the MGH Fertility Center. After a series of tests, it was determined that she had a form of polycystic ovary disease which caused her difficulty in ovulating.

"I became an IVF-type patient and began taking injectable gonadotropin drugs to rev up my follicle development. This required very careful monitoring, since everything needed to be done on a closely timed basis. Every morning for two weeks I would have to go in and have follicle measurements done. Then, at the right time, I took Pregnyl, which causes ovulation within a certain number of hours. When that occurred, I then had IUI - intrauterine insemination - to maximize my chances of getting pregnant."

Laurie and Christopher's first and second attempts with IUI failed.

"I was greatly discouraged. As a couple, this was the hardest thing that Christopher and I ever had to go through. Here I had grown up thinking that I was going to be a mom. When it didn't happen spontaneously and I was labeled as having a fertility problem it was very depressing.

"There was a disparity in my outlook and Christopher's. He was more optimistic than I. I guess as a doctor I have been trained to look at things frankly and felt I was more realistic about what our chances were. I was especially less-than-hopeful when, with our third attempt at IUI, there were only two follicles that were the right size. But, it did work! We are now the happy parents of twin daughters, Breanna and Beth.

"The best advice I can give is to hand over the worrying to the doctors who are taking care of you and don't magnify little failures. You need to focus on the small victories in the process. In my case, even being able to produce one follicle was encouraging. I've read where the rates of depression for those facing infertility can be like those of people facing a terminal illness. You really need to think in terms of months or even years to keep yourself from getting discouraged and throwing in the towel.

"At MGH, the medical care is outstanding. The doctors are motivated and intelligent and practice a quality of medicine that is excellent. The support from the entire staff, particularly nursing, is professional, warm and outstanding. They are a wonderful team... encouraging without giving any false hope. Because the program is small, they can maintain a high level of individual attention. I had at least 60 visits before finally conceiving, so I got to know the whole group.

"I feel that MGH does ovulation induction in the right way. They give the drugs in a low dose over a longer period of time to minimize the number of follicles produced, so that selective reduction becomes less of an issue. With IVF, you know the number of embryos; with IUI, you don't have the same control as fertilization occurs within the body. At MGH they are less concerned about statistics and more concerned about doing things appropriately. They pride themselves on making solid medical choices."