Dr Oz: FSH Shots, IVF, Artificial Insemination & Egg Donation

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Dr Oz: Fertility Procedure Options

Doctor Oz did a show to answer the question When Are You Too Old To Have a Baby?  Sharyn, an audience member, told Dr Oz that at an earlier age, she focused on her career as a police officer. For Sharyn, her priorities were school and then career. She’d worry about having children later. (Famous last words!) When she turned 44, Sharyn felt she was ready. Two years ago, she met the man of her dreams and was immediately ready to start a family. She became pregnant, but during a routine doctor’s visit, she found out the baby had a terminal birth defect, so she made the difficult decision to terminate. Ever since then, thoughts of having a baby consumed her. It was the first thing she thought about in the morning and the last thing she thought about before bed. She decided to see a fertility specialist, who told her she had only a 5 percent chance of getting pregnant with her own eggs. She couldn’t understand it, if celebrities got pregnant after 40, why couldn’t she? To fund her fertility treatments, Sharyn took out a second mortgage on her house for $50,000. Even today, it was all she wanted and it scared her to think that it may never happen.

Dr. Jain stated that one of the issues was having a good relationship with the patient and giving them real expectations.

Dr Oz Fertility Treatments for Women Over 40

Doctors should inform patients of the various types of treatments, but start with counseling to be sure they understand all options.

Dr Oz: Fertility Treatments

- tablet form

- injections to produce more eggs in conjunction with artificial insemination

Cost of Fertility Treatments:

Dr Oz: FSH Shots

- FSH shots-$3000 and require 4 or 5 visits to your doctor

Dr Oz: Artificial Insemination

- Artificial insemination $500-$1000 per cycle

Dr Oz: IVF

- IVF $15,000 per cycle

Dr Oz: Egg Donation

- Egg donation-$15,000 to $20,000, which also includes compensation for the donor and other hidden costs.

Dr. Jennifer Lahl stated she was sympathetic, but her concern is about Clomid (fertility drug), which has been linked to uterine cancer. According to Dr. Lahl, other fertility drugs have been linked to cancers. Fertility procedures are expensive and don’t work at least 50 percent of the time. She felt doctors should inform patients of all risks.