Survey Reveals What Women Want To Know AboutInfertility (NAPSA)—A new survey of 714 women, co-sponsored by Fertility LifeLines™ and Conceive Magazine, provides surprising insights into the gaps in resources available to women seeking information aboutinfertility. Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after one year of regular, unprotected intercourse, or six monthsif the woman is over 35 years of age. It affects about 6 million Americans, which represents about one in seven couples in their childbearing years, reports your treatment plan including financial considerations and talk- fo J ing to your partner about your concerns. Alice D. Domar, Ph.D., WW Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, Founder and @ In The Know, a new free booklet, is available to women from Fertility LifeLines” and Conceive Magazine. the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The survey found: Women are waiting longer than recommended before seeking medical advice about fertility issues. It is commonly recommended that couples should seek medical help from a Fertility Specialist if they are unable to become pregnant after one year of regular, unprotected intercourse, or six months if the womanis over 35 years of age. Of all survey respondents, 64 percent have been trying to conceive for one year or more and nearly a third (32 percent) are waiting to seek medicalhelp. Women are surprised when it happens to them. The survey found that although 86 percent of all respondents knew at least one person who had trouble getting pregnant and 40 percent knew fear (78 percent), anger (77 percent) and loss of control (54 percent) at least someof the time. Where Women Get Advice In addition to their healthcare provider more than 50 percent of prised when they had trouble initially getting pregnant themselves. Women experience an emotional roller coaster when it comes to fertility issues. Survey respondents reported feeling stress (52 percent), jealousy of other people’s happy baby news (44 percent) and depressed or sad (41 percent) most of the time. They also reported that they felt 22 percent wanted more male-oriented information. A New ResourceFills This Information Gap The In The Know: What No One Tells You About Fertility booklet covers topics such as an overview of treatment options, tips on handling the additional stress in your relationship, working with your doctor to determine three or more, 70 percent were sur- women get information from health and women’s magazines and 78 percent get information from Web sites and blogs. Women also seek information from girlfriends (42 percent), support groups (18 per- cent), family members (23 percent) and their partners (20 percent). Only about half of the survey respondentsfelt that the available information on infertility is sufficient; of the remainder: * 23 percent felt there wasn’t enough information on emotional issues. 22 percent needed additional information on dealing with stress. Director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health at Boston IVF, acclaimed author and the “Fertility Goddess,” according to Vogue, wrote the foreword to the booklet. “With current medical advances in fertility treatments, women are having more success getting preg- nant today than they were just ten years ago,” said Dr. Domar. “Unfortunately, women are waiting longer than necessary to seek medical help because they are concerned with both the emotional and financial impact of treatment. The In The Know booklet is a great resource for these women.” In The Know: What No One Tells You AboutFertility is available now. You can order a free copy of the booklet by registering at www.FertilityLifeLines.com or by calling Fertility LifeLines”, toll-free, at (866) LETS-TRY (1-866-5387879). The Web site is a free and confidential educational service offering customized information and support to people with fertility health concerns, provided by EMD Serono. It is staffed with highlytrained customer service represen- tatives, infertility nurses and benefits specialists ready to assist callers with: general infertility information, insurance assistance, Fertility Specialist referral, product support and emotional support through compassionatelistening. You can also find information about fertility health in Conceive Magazine, online at www. conceiveonline.com and on theair at Conceive’s weekly Internet radio show, Conceive On-Air.
