Is IVF the only option?
News stories about in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, are generating a lot of heat, but precious little light. The millions of couples experiencing infertility (about 1 in 12 worldwide) deserve better. The IVF industry markets itself as the ultimate answer. It’s not.
Infertility is a profoundly painful experience. Frustration leads to anger, anger to resentment, resentment to desperation. Marriages become strained and emotions are high. “We thought we would never consider IVF but… it has been so many years of trying.” “My doctor says IVF is the only way we can have our dream family.” “We don’t have any other options.”
The desire for children is good, holy, and natural. The overmedicalized and minimally regulated fertility industry leverages this vulnerability as they seek to “help.” Is IVF really the only option for couples struggling with infertility?
Sometimes IVF does result in pregnancy and birth. Importantly, every child, every unique and unrepeatable life deserves care and protection regardless of how they were created. But the IVF process is anything but natural.
The realities of IVF require subjecting a woman’s body to a myriad of unnatural, uncomfortable, and potentially unhealthy procedures. So called “fertility experts” attempt to force her body into pregnancy without understanding why she could not get pregnant naturally.
Restorative reproductive medicine empowers couples with options that come without moral or ethical compromises and is far more effective than IVF. NaPro Technology (Natural Procreative Technology) seeks to identify and treat the underlying cause of the couple’s fertility challenges. It works cooperatively with the woman’s natural cycle to understand the why.
Why is IVF the only option given by most doctors? What is this so-called unexplained infertility so many are experiencing? Many women lack a basic understanding of how their bodies work, let alone if they have a healthy and optimal cycle. Most doctors are not asking deeper questions about a woman’s gynecological health. If your cardiologist never checked your blood pressure wouldn’t that give you pause? The standard of care in women’s reproductive healthcare often doesn’t even include basic hormonal evaluations. Each woman is as unique as her cycle. Women deserve better than one size fits all solutions offered as the status quo in mainstream medicine.
NaProTechnology allows couples to not only achieve a pregnancy naturally but to also maintain a healthy pregnancy. IVF might help to achieve a pregnancy at great cost - financially, physically, emotionally, ethically. But will she be able to maintain a healthy pregnancy to full term? Quick fix solutions without treating underlying issues is never sustainable. IVF is all too happy to take over in exchange for an empty promise.
NaPro Technology offers hurting couples real hope with real solutions to real problems while respecting the intrinsic dignity of each human person. So why is IVF the “only answer?”
I encourage couples struggling with infertility to step back from the IVF option and become empowered with the knowledge and tools they need to make a healthy and informed decision. You are not alone in this journey.
