Huffington Magazine Issue 17 | Page 41

HUFFINGTON 10.07.12 MIRACLE BABIES UIG VIA GETTY IMAGES 1 2 lab. When a fertilized egg divides, it becomes an embryo which is monitored and, given that everything looks okay, transferred into a woman’s womb several days later. The process is expensive — in the U.S., the average cost per cycle is at least $12,400 — and not without risks. There is a small chance of ovarian hyperstimulation and pelvic infection, as well as the possibility of multiple pregnancies if more than one embryo is transferred to a woman’s uterus. According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, babies conceived by IVF have a slightly higher risk of birth defects — between 2.6 and 3.9 percent, compared to just to 2 to 3 percent in babies born naturally. And then there is the enormous emotional toll of treatment. “Those years were the low point in my life,” said Cortney Carroll, a bubbly 34-year-old 3 with a wide, pretty smile who recently moved from Ohio to Virginia. “They were the saddest. I was crying constantly — every day, it was this up and down. You’d get excited, you’d think, ‘These numbers are good! Yay!’ And then you’d just crash.” Cortney grew up wanting to be two things: a dancer and a mom. After a stress fracture in college ended her Broadway dreams, Cortney eventually ended up working in pharmaceutical sales. In 2001, she married her husband in front of 200 guests and the pair started trying for a baby in September 2004, when Cortney was 26. “I thought it would be easy,” she said. “That was a dumb assumption.” After about six months of trying, Cortney went to an OBGYN who preached patience — women under 35 are generally not considered infertile until they have attempted to get pregnant for one year. A few months later, she saw a different OBGYN who found a 4 The step by step process of in vitro fertilization.