A controversial photo of a sleeping baby surrounded by in vitro fertilization syringes and empty vials in the shape of a heart has gone viral.
St. Louis, Missouri’s Sher Fertility Clinic posted the image on its Facebook page on Monday, October 5th and the vials represent all the baby girl’s mom endured to bring her into this world.
The caption reads “shows the true definition of love that went into making this gorgeous new baby girl.”
It praises Angela’s specialist Dr. Molina Dayal who adds there were plenty of supplies she used that weren’t pictured.
We love the Information Age for its role in raising awareness.
The photo has triggered three reactions this far:
- Obviously, awareness of all that goes into the IVF process among the masses of the unknowing.
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Fear among women yet to give birth to their first child or who are about to start the IVF process. They are saying that they are not certain they are prepared to do all of that. But education is better than ignorance, we say.
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Knowledge among those who were able to conceive without medical intervention that they are fortunate or blessed (depending on the beliefs) to not have to undergo such a challenging process to have just one baby.
Oh yeah and some were nervous and disturbed to see a precious baby among all those needles.
Those commenting under the post shared their own stories and photos of their IVF-produced children.
What does the IVF process entail precisely?
- When a women starts IVF, she first gives herself one to three hormone injections every single day, in the thigh or stomach, to stimulate her body to produce multiple eggs during a single menstrual cycle.
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She usually has to inject herself with another drug that prevents early ovulation until their eggs are ready to be retrieved.
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When the eggs are ready, she gives herself another injection to initiate ovulation and push the eggs from the ovaries.
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While waiting for the time to retrieve the eggs, she undergoes several blood tests until, finally, the eggs are removed using a long needle.
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After the eggs are fertilized, the embryos are transferred via a catheter and replanted into the mom for incubation and growth as a pregnancy.
Those who conceivr the traditional way skip all of that. Phew!
H/t Daily Mail