I recently returned from a glorious ten-day trip to Guatemala. The idea of the trip was sparked about a year and a half ago though an Internet exchange I had with a psychologist from Guatemala City researching twin issues. Beatriz Cadena de Schwank was treating an eight-year-old twin in her practice and sought a consultation. She belongs to a private mental health group that she founded with six other women colleagues about five years ago. Their practice is called Proyecto […]
Tag Archives: IVF
IVF and Empty Nest
In my workshop about adult twins at the Multiple Births Canada Conference in Edmonton, one mother shared her grief about her twins going off to college. She recounted that her twins were conceived on her last and final IVF attempt, and they have truly been a gift. Other moms in the group had diametrically opposing outlooks. They were looking forward to a lifestyle liberated from child-rearing concerns and responsibilities. Having personally experienced separations from my children as well as counseling […]
Fertility Drugs, not IVF, Are Top Cause of Multiple Births
When I spoke in New Zealand, I learned that the country’s national health service pays for two rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF), each time implanting a single embryo. A recent report by Nancy Shute for NPR reveals some fascinating findings. She writes that a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine relates that drugs such as Clomid and injectable hormones account for the largest percentage of triplets and higher-order multiples in the United States. Fertility drugs are cheaper and […]