Delivering the joy of parenthood

When
she was 14, Hilary (who has requested her last name not be used) found
out she had polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)--cysts on the ovaries
that interfere with egg production. As little as a decade ago, it would
likely have meant that she would go through life without being able to
get pregnant and bear a child.

Today, however, thanks to modern
technology, the 31-year-old is about 27 weeks pregnant. It will be a
girl, and she already has a name: Maya Taylor. "Taylor" comes from Dr.
Beth Taylor, the specialist at the Genesis Fertility Centre in
Vancouver who made the dream of parenthood come true for Hilary and her
husband, Dennis.

"Amazingly, it took just one procedure," Hilary says.

The
total cost, she adds, was about $12,000, which included the treatment,
the related medication and a series of acupuncture treatments
recommended by the clinic to stimulate blood flow to the reproductive
organs."

The procedure Hilary underwent at Genesis is called
elective single embryo transfer (eSET) and involves implanting a single
fertilized egg in the mother's uterus, rather than an alternative
technique of transferring more than one fertilized egg.

"The eSET procedure is safer for both mother and baby and has good success rates in women under

'In Europe, single-embryo transfer is mandated because of the safety factors' 35 years of age," Dr. Taylor says.

"In
fact, it is so much safer that in European countries, where national
health care programs pay the cost of fertility treatments,
single-embryo transfer is mandated because of the safety factors.

"My own personal view is that single-embryo transfer will eventually be legislated as the standard in this country."

Hilary
admits she initially argued with Dr. Taylor. Her view was that the
implantation of multiple eggs would greatly increase her chances of
getting pregnant and delivering a child.

"Dr. Taylor just put her
foot down. She explained the risks of a multiple birth--a 100% increase
in the potential for complications --and said if the first procedure
didn't work, we would just do it again. Since my only problem was the
cysts, there was no reason it should not work."

Hilary had
initially tried more traditional approaches to pregnancy, she says. Her
family doctor at first prescribed Clomid, which stimulates egg
production. It worked and she did become pregnant but miscarried at six
weeks.

After that, the Clomid failed to help. Last October, her family doctor referred her to the Genesis Clinic and Dr. Taylor.

"She was wonderful," Hilary says. "She explained the options and said my chances were much better than a coin toss."

Acupuncture
became part of the treatment, with weekly sessions in the four months
leading up to the procedure and then twice a week as her eggs were
fertilized and that single egg implanted.

"What I know for
certain is that all it took was a single procedure and that the baby
and I are healthy, and that in another few months, Dennis and I will be
a mommy and a daddy," she says. "And it is all because of Dr. Taylor
and her team."