The Virginia House of Delegates overwhelmingly passed HB1—the Virginia Personhood Bill.

HB 1 is designed to provide personhood status at the moment of conception. At face value, this Bill only affects natural conception and excludes embryos created during ‘lawful assisted reproduction.’ However, in Section 7, the phrase ‘lawful assisted conception’ is subtle and nuanced. The term ‘lawful’ will likely be redefined if this Bill becomes a law, criminalizing decisions made about embryos created through assisted reproduction.

Personhood Bills endanger the practice of IVF and the treatment of infertility. If an embryo is defined as a person and is given the same rights as a person this could make it nearly impossible for doctors to practice IVF in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Doctors and patients could be held criminally liable for anything that happens to that embryo. Visit the RESOLVE website to contact your Senator to voice your opposition to HB 1.

We will be closed for all business this Saturday, January 21st (including phone and fax service).

No orders are being scheduled for pick-up on Saturday, January 21. We will re-open in the new location on Monday, January 23rd at 8:00am.

Thank you for your patience.

We look forward to serving you and your patients better than ever before!

2924 Telestar Court, Falls Church, VA 22042

Located just a mile away from our current location, off Gallows Road.

For obese women who plan to become or are pregnant, obesity can cause some unexpected challenges that must be tackled in order to achieve the best possible outcome for mom and baby.

In an article published in the journal Seminars in Perinatology, maternal fetal medicine expert Loralei L. Thornburg, reviews many of the pregnancy-related changes and obstacles obese women may face before giving birth.

Many obese women are vitamin deficient.

Obese women tend to stray away from fortified cereals, fruits, and vegetables, and eat more processed foods that are high in calories but low in nutritional value. This is a concern because certain vitamins, like folic acid, are important before conception, lowering the risk of cardiac problems and spinal defects in newborns. Other vitamins, such as calcium and iron, are needed throughout pregnancy to help babies grow.

Obese patients need to gain 11-20 pounds during pregnancy.

In 2009, the Institute of Medicine revised its recommendations for gestational weight gain for obese women from “at least 15 pounds” to “11-20 pounds.” If a woman starts her pregnancy overweight or obese, not gaining a lot of weight can actually improve the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy, Thornburg points out. Talking with your doctor about appropriate weight gain for your pregnancy is key, she says.

Respiratory disease in obesity increases the risk for non-pulmonary pregnancy complications, such as cesarean delivery and preeclampsia (high blood pressure).

Obese women have increased rates of respiratory complications, and up to 30% experience an exacerbation of their asthma during pregnancy, a risk almost one-and-a-half times more than non-obese women.

According to Thornburg, respiratory complications represent just one piece of the puzzle that adds to poor health in obesity, which increases the likelihood of problems in pregnancy. She stresses the importance of getting asthma and any other respiratory conditions under control before getting pregnant.

Read more on Futurity.org in the article Myths and truths: Pregnancy, weight, and risks.

Confused about the chemical messages of your body is sending you? RESOLVE has provided a simple outline of the female sex hormones and their function in reproduction.

GnRH

• Released by the hypothalamus, it stimulates the release of FSH and LH (gonadotropins)
• During the first half of the woman’s menstrual cycle, it stimulates the release of FSH from the pituitary gland
• During the second half of the cycle it stimulates the release of LH

FSH- Follicle Stimulating Hormone

• Hormone produced by the Pituitary Gland
• Stimulates the growth of follicles (the fluid filled sacs in the ovaries that house the developing egg)

LH- Lutenizing Hormone

• Produced by the Pituitary Gland
• Stimulates the follicle to release the egg and the testes to release sperm
• During the menstrual cycle it stimulates the endometrium (the lining of the uterus), to grow and thicken
• Its presence causes cervical mucous to become thin, clear and watery at the time of ovulation so sperm can travel to the uterine cavity

Progesterone

• Prepares the uterine lining to receive a fertilized egg
• If implantation does not occur, production of progesterone falls, triggering menstruation

For more information, visit the RESOLVE website.

A bill to create a tax credit for the out-of-pocket costs associated with infertility medical treatment has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman John Lewis (GA).

Co-sponsored by Rosa L. DeLauro (CT), William Keating (MA), and Richard E. Neal (MA). the appropriately named the Family Act of 2011, S 965/H.R. 3522, this bill will potentially help thousands of people seek medical treatment that otherwise would be out of reach for them.

Key provisions of the House and Senate bill:

• The Family Act covers the out-of-pocket costs associated with in vitro fertilization (IVF) including diagnostic tests, laboratory charges, professional charges, and medications for IVF.
• The Family Act covers the out-of-pocket costs of fertility preservation procedures if the man or woman is diagnosed with cancer and the cancer treatment or disease itself may result in infertility.
• The Family Act has a cost sharing provision allowing 50% of all applicable medical expenses to be covered up to a lifetime maximum of $13,360. You would need to have out-of-pocket costs totaling $26,720 to claim the entire credit in your lifetime.
• If you do not owe taxes in a particular year, do not owe enough taxes to use the whole credit, or do not reach the max amount in one tax year, it carries over to the next year for a max of five years after the first year you use the credit.
• The Family Act is available to couples filing jointly with adjusted gross incomes of less than $222,520, but the credit is smaller for those earning between $182,500 and $222,520.

Join RESOLVE as they try to get as many Senators and Members of Congress to co-sponsor this bill and to seek a hearing on the bill in the appropriate House and Senate Committees. Read more on the RESOLVE website to see what you can do to help.

The holidays are officially upon us, and those struggling with infertility may find it hard to get through this time of year that focuses largely on children and families. It’s common to feel overwhelmed by the toy ads on TV, kids in line at the mall to sit on Santa’s lap, Christmas parties with children running around.

RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association has provided a list of DOs and DON’Ts to help you cope with the holidays.

DO: Be selective about accepting invitations to parties and holiday celebrations, especially the ones at which you know there will be a lot of children or pregnant women. Remember: you don’t have to say yes.

DON’T: Feel guilty about not participating in all the traditional family events. You’re going through a difficult time, and you need to concentrate on helping yourself and your partner get through the holidays

DO: Plan to spend time with couples or friends who don’t have children if family festivities are too much to bear this year. Consider arriving just in time for the holiday dinner, rather than the night before if you find it painful to be around your young nieces, nephews and cousins.

DON’T: Rely completely on family traditions to fulfill your present needs.

DO: Spend time doing things you like best.

DON’T: Pretend that there’s nothing wrong and carry on with “business as usual.”

DO: Decide in advance how you will handle difficult and insensitive questions.

DON’T: Be caught off guard by unexpected or embarrassing questions about your plans for having a family. Plan your responses, but don’t feel that you have to disclose all the details of your situation either!

For more tips and information, visit RESOLVE’s website.

Often when a couple is infertile, it is the woman who is evaluated. But in actuality, 1/3 of difficult pregnancies involve a male factor.

Sperm count and quality is important in a successful pregnancy. It takes 2-3 months for sperm to fully mature, so what men do now can make a huge impact.

Some harmful behaviors that can decrease sperm quantity and quality include:

• Smoking
• Excessive drinking
• Frequenting saunas and hot tubs
• Wearing tight underwear
• Using recreational drugs, including marijuana
• Taking male supplements

In some cases, varicocele surgery may be required to improve the sperm count. Even men who have a normal sperm count may not have sperm of good quality. Whatever the case may be, it is important for the men to take care of their sperm when attempting to conceive.

Information in this article has been adapted from Men, are you killing your sperm? Here’s what can hurt male fertility by Marni Jameson, Orlando Sentinel, posted November 10, 2011.

There’s nothing to be ashamed of when struggling with infertility, and you are not alone. It’s time to stop suffering in silence.

Visit the Redbook Magazine website to listen, learn more, and reach out to women who are battling with infertility and even share your story with others.

For those suffering from osteoarthritis, low-impact exercise is optimal, especially bicycling. Those with knee osteoarthritis will find that bicycling keeps the knees moving through their full range of motion and strengthens the muscles that support the knees. Interestingly, low-intensity cycling is just as beneficial as high-intensity.

[A] study published in the Journal of Gerontology compared high-intensity cycling to low-intensity cycling in knee osteoarthritis patients. Researchers concluded that low-intensity cycling was as effective as high-intensity cycling for improving the patient’s function, gait, aerobic capacity, as well as for decreasing pain.

Always be sure to discuss with your physician before starting any exercise program. For more information on bicycling for osteoarthritis relief, please read this article from About.com — which is reviewed by the Medical Review Board.

Thirty-three years ago, Louise Joy Brown became the world’s first baby to be convinced via in vitro fertilization (IVF). Today, IVF is considered a mainstream medical treatment for infertility. Hundreds of thousands of children around the world have been conceived through the procedure, in some cases with donor eggs and sperm.

A few years after Louise was born, her parents Lesley and Peter Brown, had a second daughter through IVF. In 1999, Natalie, Louise’s sister, gave birth to her own child — becoming the first IVF baby to give birth to her own baby, which in this case, was conceived naturally.

Watch the video below to learn more of the Brown’s story.

Video via History.com