One in six couples will have difficulty getting pregnant. Thirty per cent
of the time a female factor is the cause, 30 per cent of the time a male factor, 30 per cent of the time it’s
a combination and 10 per cent of the time no explanation can be found.
Dr. Beth Taylor, a co-director and fertility specialist at Genesis Fertility Centre and a clinical assistant
professor at the University of British Columbia, treats male and female infertile patients, including those
with such common causes of infertility as endometriosis, blocked fallopian tubes, and ovulatory and uterine
disorders. Dr. Taylor says that one of the most common — and most overlooked — factors is female age.
“More and more commonly now, the patients we see at Genesis are over 40,” says Dr. Taylor. “Many couples have
postponed starting their family because they’ve each been trying to establish themselves financially or
achieve certain career or personal goals. Their fertility doesn’t wait, unfortunately.
A woman is born with approximately two million eggs, which she loses as she ages. When she has depleted all
of her eggs, typically around the age of 50, she enters menopause. As egg numbers decline, so does fertility
and hence the chance of conceiving naturally. In addition, as egg numbers decline, so does egg quality.
Consequently, women are more likely to miscarry if they are able to conceive.
“In many cases, couples or single women have simply waited too long to start trying,” says Dr. Taylor. “A
woman may be shocked to find that after years of trying to prevent pregnancy she is now having trouble
conceiving.”
But while age is often a factor for infertility sometimes there it is no known cause. About 10 per cent of
couples are diagnosed with “unexplained infertility,” and though a diagnosis of unexplained infertility or
advanced age can leave a couple feeling frustrated and hopeless, it’s important to realize that it doesn’t
mean there are no options available for conceiving.
Lori Joyce, co-founder and co-owner of Vancouver-based Cupcakes by Heather and Lori and star of the W
Network’s popular reality series The Cupcake Girls, faced infertility due to both increasing age and
“unexplained infertility.”
She was working endless days running her start-up business and was a newlywed when she began trying to
conceive at the age of 32.
“My day, it was all about my business. At that point I was probably working, easily, six days a week, 10
hours a day,” says Joyce. “I’m a very goal-oriented person and I work very hard to achieve what I want so
when I couldn’t get pregnant, it was the only thing in my life at that time that I couldn’t achieve.”
Joyce’s doctor referred her to Genesis, where Dr. Taylor diagnosed her and her husband with unexplained
infertility. It was a devastating experience for Joyce.
“I didn’t get clinically depressed but I definitely got depressed,” Joyce says of her reaction to the
diagnosis. “I remember a time when I did not want to get out of bed in the morning and my business partner
would find me at home and ask me what I was doing and why I wasn’t at work yet. I just cut her off. My
husband was expecting me to leave him because he knew that having a family was something I wanted to do my
entire life.”
But for Joyce, staying in bed wasn’t an option for very long. With her business just over four years old and
filming for the first season of The Cupcake Girls beginning, she had to get back to business and back to her
life.
She talked to Dr. Taylor about her options and decided, like many other women facing infertility, to try a
procedure called in-vitro fertilization (IVF). IVF is one of the most widely used fertility treatments —
often called the “test tube baby” procedure. Since the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978,
more than two million babies have been born as a result of IVF.
With IVF, the eggs and sperm are collected and combined in a laboratory, and fertilization happens outside
the woman’s body. Once the egg is fertilized, it is transferred to the uterus to continue to develop. Some
clinics are now achieving IVF success rates of up to 60 per cent per transfer depending on the couple.
Joyce returned to her busy life during IVF treatment. “I always tell my fans and people who contact me after
seeing my story on the show to do something else that you’re passionate about, something that distracts you,”
she says.
While filming the first episode of The Cupcake Girls, she became pregnant with her son, now 14 months
old.
The new role of mother added to Joyce’s busy life, and then, just six months later and to her surprise, she
became pregnant again — this time, the natural way.
“I’m very fortunate and excited, but at that point — even now — I’m so into my son I wouldn’t be considering
having another child,” she says. “I think we got pregnant because we really weren’t focusing on it.”
Dr. Taylor and the team at Genesis have been giving people like Joyce the opportunity to have a family since
1995.
“We pride ourselves in being leading-edge. If a new procedure, laboratory technique or therapy has been
proven to help patients, we implement it at Genesis,” says Dr. Taylor. “Like every person that walks through
our door, our goal is to create healthy families.”
Joyce now looks back at her struggle with infertility with a new kind of appreciation.
“I kind of believe that you’re given these challenges and it ends up that it’s a good thing, in the end,” she
says. “I feel blessed now looking back, it really kind of set the tone for who I am as person and it honestly
strengthened my marriage because, just like my business, if you can get through that together — you can get
through anything together.”•
Photo Courtesy Genesis Fertility Clinic and iStock Photo
