Many women are familiar with or have heard of endometriosis and the painful, heavy periods and pelvic discomfort that may come with it. Adenomyosis is a disease that causes similar symptoms, which is why it can be misdiagnosed as other conditions, such as fibroids or endometriosis. It is, however, its own condition.  With the help of Dr. Jessica Bauer of IVF MD, in this article we will walk you through what adenomyosis is, the signs and symptoms to look out for, how it differs from another, more common gynecological condition, and what options there are...

You know the drill: one minute you're feeling on top of the world, and the next, you're crying over a sad dog commercial. As women, our emotions are closely tied to our hormones, which can be influenced by our monthly menstrual cycles. Understanding how our hormonal fluctuations may impact our mood throughout the month can help us be better prepared to manage those feelings when they arise.  The science of ovulation Throughout the month, women's bodies undergo a hormonal dance that can make us feel like we're on a never-ending rollercoaster. In fact, according to...

  Another day, another headline about something that may (or may not) affect fertility. If you’re in the throes of trying to conceive, we understand how this goes: You read and analyze and hold on to every piece of information that comes your way. You do your very, very best to reconfigure your lifestyle so that everything you eat or drink or do best aligns with recommendations from the ever-evolving body of research surrounding reproductive health. Maybe you even do this at the expense of your mental and physical health — because there’s a lot of...

If you’re anything like us, you might find yourself learning something new on TikTok every day. Whether it’s a life hack that, as the famous audio says, has become an unconscious standard practice in your life or, perhaps, something that was skipped over in your high school's Sex Ed class, TikTok can be an extremely informative tool when used correctly.  However, as with anything you read or learn on the internet, you should always fact-check what you hear on TikTok by conducting simple, well-accredited research of your own.  For example, there is currently a trending hashtag...

Predicting when ovulation starts is one thing, but trying to tell when it's over is an entirely different challenge. For some of us, the start of ovulation is obvious – maybe you get cramps, a little bit of bloating, some cravings, and the inexplicable urge to buy a dozen baby onesies, but what about when it's all over? When is it time to close the blinds on your fertility window and resume your regularly scheduled programming? Fear not if you're tired of playing the ovulation guessing game with your body. There are ways to pinpoint...

Navigating a pregnancy loss can be difficult, no matter how early in the pregnancy it has occurred. Chemical pregnancies are miscarriages that occur before the fifth week of pregnancy, and they can be just as distressing as any other type of pregnancy loss.  According to the American Pregnancy Association, these early miscarriages are called "chemical" pregnancies because the pregnancy hormone hCG can be detected in the urine or blood, but the fetus cannot yet be seen on an ultrasound. Often, a person will have a positive home urine pregnancy test, only to have period-like (or...

When I was unable to watch Netflix’s Love is Blind finale in real time, I dreaded the inevitable spoilers I’d see on social media the next day. But instead of spoilers, all I saw was criticism of the show and one of its hosts, Vanessa Lachey. Specifically, social media users were complaining about the host’s invasive questioning of each of the show’s married couples' plans for having “babies”.  Days later, I finally watched the finale and saw exactly what everyone was upset about: At several points throughout the reunion-style finale, Lachey mentioned that she was...

Let’s make one thing very clear: If you’ve suffered a miscarriage, it is not your fault. About 50 percent of miscarriages occur due to chromosomal abnormalities, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Typically, these chromosomal abnormalities are inevitable  — and when other factors cause the miscarriage, they’re also typically far outside a person’s control (some other causes of miscarriage include uterine abnormalities or chronic health conditions).  If you’ve experienced a miscarriage, it wasn’t because you drank coffee or exercised intensely or traveled, or had a glass of wine before you were pregnant....

For many people, diving into the world of infertility or fertility preservation comes with a lot of realizations about their own bodies and health — things they never even knew were possibilities. For example: Maybe you’re undergoing fertility testing to take control of your reproductive future…and you learn that you have a thing called diminished ovarian reserve. Terms like this — which sound like a foreign language to someone who hasn’t stepped into the world of reproductive medicine, but quickly become a part of your vocabulary as you navigate this world — can be frightening...

It probably goes without saying that having anything “blocked” in your reproductive organs doesn’t bode well for your fertility. For instance, your fallopian tubes play a major role in your ability to conceive, and if one or both are blocked it can lead to potential fertility issues.  The fallopian tubes are two thin tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus. In a typical menstrual cycle, during ovulation one of the ovaries releases an egg into one of the fallopian tubes, where it awaits fertilization from a sperm. The fertilized egg, or embryo, then moves...