Richard Marrs - Dr. Richard Marrs Fertility Book: Americas Leading Infertility Expert Tells You Everything You Need to Know About Getting Pregnant

High Praise for
DR. RICHARD MARRS FERTILITY BOOK

As one who has worked in the field of infertility from the very beginning, I know how hard it is for doctors to keep up with all the developments in IVF technology. How much more difficult it must be for our patients to come to terms with what their treatment may embrace. Dr. Richard Marrs Fertility Book is the most comprehensive contribution to this field.
Ian Johnston, M.D., Reproductive Medicine and Gynecology, East Melbourne, Australia

The only book you will ever need about infertility. Dr. Marrs and his colleagues have done a masterful job of weaving detailed technical passages with poignant personal accounts of the experiences of their patients. [It is] the perfect approach to a very sensitive subject.
Stephanie and LeVar Burton

An up-to-date, no-nonsense look at infertility.
Library Journal

In fertility, we are talking about dreams. A couples most deeply held and most precious dreams. What Dr. Marrs has done here is to tell you honestly and clearly how these dreams can become reality.
David Crosby, Crosby, Stills and Nash

It is truly the only book of its kind, and should become the infertility bible. [Dr. Richard Marrs Fertility Book has] covered all aspects of the infertility experience, and yet it isnt dry or hard to read.
JoBeth Williams

A DELL TRADE PAPERBACK

Published by
Dell Publishing
a division of
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036

Excerpt from The Mommy Club by Sarah Bird is reprinted with permission of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell, copyright 1991 by Sarah Bird.

Excerpt from Newsweek article, August 7, 1978, reprinted with permission of Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from Motherhood Deferred by Anne Taylor Fleming, reprinted with permission of the Putnam Publishing Group, copyright 1994 by Anne Taylor Fleming.

Excerpt from Vital Signs by Robin Cook, reprinted with permission of the Putnam Publishing Group, copyright 1991.

Copyright 1997 by Richard Marrs, M.D. and Lisa Friedman Bloch and Kathy Kirtland Silverman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address Delacorte Press, New York, New York.

The trademark Dell is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

eISBN: 978-0-307-78947-1

Reprinted by arrangement with Delacorte Press

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This book could not have been written without the many couples who experienced the pain and frustrations of being infertile. The strength and courage they demonstrated, enduring months and years of investigations and evaluations, makes them the true pioneers of this area of medical technology. Because of them, choices and chances have increased for all those who follow. To these pioneers, we dedicate this work.

We thank our children
Ashley Marrs, Austen Marrs, Alexis Bloch,
Jordan Bloch, and Matthew Silverman
for their patience,
and
Jonathan Bloch and Ron Silverman
for their love and support
during the writing of this book.

I would like to thank my former teachers, Dr. Phillip Thomson, Dr. Robert Franklin, Dr. William McGanity, Dr. Robert Girtanner, Dr. Val Davajan, Dr. Charles March, and Dr. Oscar Kletzky, for their efforts throughout my educational process.

And to all of my former fellows in reproductive medicine, who questioned and performed the various experimental protocols we developed in the early years of the Assisted Reproductive Technologies.

R ICHARD M ARRS , M.D.

We would also like to thank the many patients who agreed to be interviewed, and who opened their hearts and re-lived their experiences for us.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the many experts who contributed both their time and their knowledge to our efforts. Among them are: Anita Aloia, L.V.N.; Jill Model Barth, Ph.D., B.C.D.; Carol J. Bennet, M.D.; Linda Callahan, M.A.; Elaine Gordon, Ph.D.; Michelle Leclaire ONeill, Ph.D., R.N.; Dr. Daoshing Ni, D.O.M., L.Ac.; Kathy Parenicka, R.N.; Eva Ritvo, M.D.; and Carole Lieber Wilkins, M.A., M.F.C.C.

We would like to offer a very sincere and special thank-you to our editor, Marjorie Braman, who spent untold hours guiding us and helping us to turn our manuscript into the book it has now become. Your sensitivity toward this material, and your unwavering commitment to perfection, made an enormous difference.

Finally, our deepest gratitude goes to our agent Jillian Manus whose professionalism, knowledge, wisdom, friendship, and support helped us realize our dream, and see it to fruition. Thank you for always being there. Your dedication is immeasurable.

Most of my adult life has been devoted to researching and treating infertility. It has given me moments of great joy and wonder. In 1982 I experienced the incredible excitement of initiating one of the worlds first test-tube babies. This IVF procedure gave doctors a true physiologic window through which we could observe the basics of human reproduction. Only four years later I helped to create the United States first pregnancy produced from a frozen embryo. These early miracles still leave me in awe, even after thousands of successful births. Yet as I look back over the past fifteen years, I also remember the many, many other infertile patients Ive treated. I think of how I held their hands through their suffering and listened to their hopes and their frustrations. My wish is to re-create these miracles of life for everyone who longs to have a child. If you are infertile, I understand what youre going through, and I want to help.

While its hard to see anything positive when youre in pain, the comforting news is that youre not alone. Youre fortunate to be living in an era when infertility has come out of the closet. Every day patients walk into my office with their own versions of the same thought: Suddenly its everywhereon television, in newspapers and magazines. Everyone knows someone whos having trouble conceiving. These patients are sharing in the new frankness about a problem that was hidden away during our parents and grandparents generations. Perhaps thats because theres exciting new technology to help us conquer it.

However open we may now be, infertility is still a heartrending problem: those of you who desperately long for a baby are still hurting. As you live each day, theres no way to ignore your problem and your sense of deprivation. This book will be a source not only of information but of comfort. Here you will learn about the incredible advances being made every day in the field of infertility and come to understand the new hope they hold out for you. Youll be able to inform and reassure people who are close to you and care about you that there is hope. And most of all you will learn how to query experts in the fieldby doing that, you will learn too. Having worked with infertility patients for nearly twenty years, I know how knowledge can empower you when you feel hopeless and alone. You need to understand enough to become a partner in your own treatment instead of an object of care. Every patient should be almost as knowledgeable as the physician who cares for themthe more knowledge, the less fear, and the more realistic hope they will have.