Unexplained infertility is not always unexplainable

In my first blog I explained the stages of grief I went through when dealing with my unexplained infertility. But it didn’t end there. Here is the rest of the story.

My husband and I were told we had to be actively trying to conceive for one year before we could seek medical help for infertility, which is standard practice. During that year we had suffered two miscarriages and had no answers as to why. When we had our one-year infertility anniversary, I was so excited to finally get some help!

The blind diagnosis that led to infertility treatment

We went to see a reproductive endocrinologist. The doctors ran some tests, asked me some questions, and I finally got my diagnosis—unexplained infertility! In other words, they had no clue why I was not able to stay pregnant. We started on infertility treatments. We got to experience yet another year of infertility, and another loss. I was getting impatient, frustrated, and angry.

Getting infertility treatments was such a physically and mentally draining process. I felt like I was on an emotional roller-coaster: highs and lows galore. It was stressful, painful, time consuming and worse of all, expensive. After three years of unexplained infertility, I was at the lowest of the low. But then it happened; I got my sticky bean. I went on to have an uneventful pregnancy and a healthy baby boy.

Getting a real diagnosis

After a long discussion, my husband and I agreed to try for a second child when our son was about two years old. However, this time around, we chose not to do infertility treatments. Instead I charted cervical mucus, tracking basal body temperature, and used ovulation predictor kits (LH test strips) to better understand my cycles. Using these tools, and my gynecologist’s help, we were able to diagnose that my progesterone levels were not high enough to support a pregnancy. My unexplained infertility had an explanation after all!

I was given a prescription for progesterone suppositories. I charted and started on progesterone support after ovulation.  In seven short months, I was pregnant again. I started progesterone 5 days after ovulation and continued until I was 12 weeks. After another uneventful pregnancy, I had a healthy little girl.

Do I regret doing infertility treatments? Absolutely not! How could I? I have a beautiful son as a result. Do I wish I had known about ovulation charting earlier? Hell, yes! While I am thankful the treatments gave me my son, I have learned that I may not have needed to take that route. My body was fully capable of creating life; it just needed a little progesterone boost!

Our healthcare system is broken

I am the prime example of yet another reason our healthcare system is broken. Why in the world did we need to wait a whole year to get help? That year just led us to frustration, anger, disappointment, and desperation. Why was I not taught about fertility charting and tracking earlier? If I had learned how to monitor my fertility earlier in life, I might have saved myself some heartache, frustration, and money!

I struggled with infertility for three years, and then I watched good friends and family members also struggle. It was so painful to see the ones I loved go through the pain of infertility too. So, I vowed to try to change it.

Finding a new technology to help women

Charting cervical mucus and temperature changes are good methods, but they didn’t work very well for me and my weird cycles. As a biologist, I think the most accurate way to track ovulation is by measuring reproductive hormones themselves.

A clinical lab can measure all these hormone levels; why aren’t such tests available for women to use at home? We track our steps, calories, and glucose, why can’t we track the hormones involved in ovulation? I knew it was technically possible to create in-home test kits that would enable women to track all hormonal changes throughout her menstrual cycle. Since no one was creating these devices, I started a medical diagnostic device company and have dedicated my career to creating hormone-tracking tests.

Our first product, which is near and dear to my heart due to my own struggle with low progesterone, is a test strip that measures progesterone metabolites in urine (Ovulation Double Check® tests). These tests can help confirm ovulation has occurred as well as help diagnose low progesterone issues. The most common cause of infertility is lack of ovulation. Insufficient progesterone is also a common cause of unexplained infertility and miscarriage. Therefore, we hope these tests and the others we are working on can help women to track ovulation and diagnose possible causes of infertility.

In a perfect world, couples would never be diagnosed with unexplained infertility. The bad news is that infertility can be caused by multiple different reasons and gaining a proper diagnosis can be very expensive. The good news is that science is available to change this paradigm. By creating more in-home fertility tracking tools, couples can gain more knowledge about their cycles and possible imbalances, cutting the need for expensive doctor office visits. Our mission is to help bring about this change.

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  1. Comment by usvascularcenter on July 14, 2017 at 12:26 am

    Proper diagnosis is necessary otherwise it led to infertility treatment. And this is what your post reflects. Thanks for sharing such a nice information.

  2. Comment by CLL on July 31, 2017 at 4:46 pm

    What level of progesterone must be present for it to register on the strips?

  3. Comment by Rachel on August 8, 2017 at 9:25 am

    I hate the ‘unexplained’ diagnosis. Now we are sandwiched somewhere between unexplained and ‘male factor’ – initially we were told DHs results shouldn’t be making a difference, but then we were told it ‘probably’ is by a couple of other consultants. Unfortunately there seems to be nothing he can do to boost his count. My cycles are slightly on the long side, although I had always counted day 1 as the day I started spotting, however my clinic told me that I should be from the day AF properly arrives. I think I roughly ovulate between day 15 and day 19 and then I always have spotting for about 4-5 days before AF arrives properly. However I was prescribed progesterone last month and this got rid of the spotting. So therefore I have been hoping for a miracle again as we are pretty much headed for the Ivf route if this fails. We are planning to visit biotexcom clinic. They have one of the highest ranks among European reproductive centers. They offered all-inclusive packets and I decided to do it there. And the most interesting, it costs about 30 000 euros. I have learned to count my blessings and never to take anything for granted. I hope and pray that one day I will be able to join in the happiness of motherhood.

  4. Comment by Sonny on August 16, 2017 at 9:38 am

    I had never even heard of secondary infertility until I was in the middle of it. Defined as the inability to become pregnant, or to carry a pregnancy to term following the birth of one or more biological children, secondary infertility brings its own particular brand of grief to a couple trying to conceive. I kept telling myself that it would happen. We didn’t need any intervention the first time, so we were reluctant to try fertility drugs or anything extreme. I did try timing my ovulation by temperature and cervical mucous tests, but to no avail. Than I finally agreed on IVF. We went to Ukraine. For many of you such choice may seem strange, but we were pressed for money. In one of the clinics in the capital, Biotexcom, they offered a perfect variant for us. They guarantees to all its patients success of chosen program. They got package with unlimited number of IVF attempts, and in addition it is the only clinic that provides the «all inclusive» package. It means that we pay once and get everything we need: accommodation, food, legal assistance, medical examinations, interpreter and so on. So, I gave birth to my son 3 months ago. There were no complications during the pregnancy. I hope that everything will be okay now.

  5. Comment by Erin on August 16, 2017 at 9:40 am

    I’m planning to use ivf program in Ukraine biotexcom clinic for the second time. Firstly we were happy to meet our daughter. My girl like any person, like 90% of people, is a normal and healthy. We expect to have the same luck as we had the first time. In this attempt we expect to get a boy. We will see if we succeed from the first time. And if we have to do more attempts, well we will. We are with the program with guaranties, so that we are on firm ground. We had no problems first time with the document stuff. Because all the documents were prepared perfectly and our kid from the very beginning had her Spanish passport and family book. Nobody even tried to stop us while we were crossing the border. I can say that you don`t have to be afraid to come to Ukraine and that there is a total provision for the ART in the legislation. This is a topic which is prohibited in Spain now. We are expecting that it will change in future and will be accepted. Well, and you can walk on the streets with no problem, be in some mall, have a cup of coffee with no worry. And is exaggerated all what you can see on TV about the war, about Ukrainians dying. Yes, really there is a war, but it is on the borders, far enough from Kiev. And you don`t have to be afraid to come. The thing is that Kiev will give you the most beautiful what you can have in your life – your son or daughter.

  6. Comment by Julia on August 18, 2017 at 7:14 am

    I am so happy that someone could get a kind of clear answer about their infertility! Unfortunately I am not that person… We were talking with huge amount of different professional doctors. And there is nothing wrong with either my husband or me. However, we can seem to be successful in starting our family. We were trying to do our best. That is why I have done IVF. You know that was like the last chance for us! And it worked! We have chosen clinic in Ukraine, Kiev. That was quite unexpected for our relatives – to entrust Kiev with such a touchy issue! But it was one best price variant – nearly $ 30k. That sum we could afford. I am happy to say that everything goes well and hope that as soon as possible our family will be a little bit bigger!

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