It takes a village
(sz) In vitro fertilization may be a high-tech science requiring sophisticated equipment, but for the people involved, from clinicians to clients, this assisted start to life is profoundly personal.
It’s early Sunday morning and the Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine is having a busy day.
There will be four egg retrievals this morning — a bit of a post-Christmas rush, explains the RN who ushers Val Cole into the changing room to prepare her for egg retrieval.
The changing room, where Cole dons a robe and slippers, looks more like a room in a spa than a medical facility, complete with purse lockers, plush white robes and potted silk orchids.
Val Cole and her partner Stephen John are delighted to see the tiny spots of light that represent their embryos in an ultrasound image taken just after the embryo transfer was performed.View Larger Image View Larger Image
Val Cole and her partner Stephen John are delighted to see the tiny spots of light that represent their embryos in an ultrasound image taken just after the embryo transfer was performed.
Val is feeling a little weak. It’s early, and she hasn’t had anything to eat or drink this morning. She’ll be receiving conscious sedation, a combination of medazolin and fentanyl, for the egg retrieval process.
The anesthetic ensures that Cole will be lightly aware, but remember little of the procedure she is about to undergo. The nurse wraps Cole’s arm in a heating pad to warm up the veins and get her ready for an IV.
Cole’s partner Stephen sits on a stool next to her. “I finally feel like I’m a part of things today,” he says. “Until now, I’ve been kind of separated from the process, getting reports from Val after her ultrasounds, watching her inject herself.”
While Cole is in the operating theatre where Dr. Jeffrey Roberts will retrieve the eggs from her fallopian tubes, Stephen will be ushered into another room to produce the sperm.
“No pressure, honey,” cracks Cole. Stephen laughs. They’re nervous today, but excited. Soon they’ll know how many eggs, and how many opportunities they will have to realize their dream of a family.
Both the operating theatre where Cole’s eggs will be retrieved, and the room in which Stephen’s sperm will be collected have doors that connect to the lab where fertilization will take place.
Carol Lawrence, the embryologist who will manage the embryo creation today by performing ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), pops her head in and smiles broadly. more…
From:»The Vancouver Sun«