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Saturday, May 28, 2011

NPT Over IVF

Ten Reasons to Choose 
NaProTECHNOLOGY (NPT) Over IVF:
(in addition to being in line with Church teaching!)
by David Picella

  1. NaProTECHNOLOGY Focuses on Disease.  If a couple cannot get pregnant, it makes sense that the first thing the doctor must do is to find out why.  This is THE goal of the complete NPT program.  With IVF, the cause of infertility is not important and in the underlying problem it is completely ignored. 
  2. Success Rates are Better with NaProTECHNOLOGY.  Recent data from the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, NE, show that NPT success rates are 1.5 to 3 times better than IVF (23.5% versus 38.4%-81.8%).  In a 4 year study of 95 NPT couples who had been trying to conceive for an average of 6.1 years and had 176 failed attempts at an Artificial Reproductive Technique (ART) Boyle[1] reported that there were 123 conceptions. Life table analysis demonstrated increasing success the longer that couples remained in the NPT program with 26.2% pregnant at 12 to 17 months rising to 32.6% at 18-25 months. 
  3. No Destruction of Embryos.  An analysis of ART data[2] from 1983 to 1986 demonstrated that the transfer of 1,372 embryos (3.2 per woman) resulted in 81 live births.  From this data, it is necessary to create 16.9 living embryos to produce one live birth.  The higher reported rates of success for IVF procedures usually means more embryos are being transferred which increases the risk of multiple births. 
  4. No Infanticide:  "Selective Reduction" One of the most objectionable things about IVF is that it can result in a situation where a woman is forced to deal with a dangerously high multiple pregnancy rate.  Pregnancy risk increases dramatically with the number of babies in the womb.  Frequently, women are compelled to selectively "reduce" (i.e., kill) additional babies in the womb due to unacceptably high pregnancy risk. 
  5. Natural Sex versus a Laboratory Procedure  In IVF, the sperm and eggs (gametes) are collected through masturbation (male) and harvesting (female) where they meet in a laboratory to form embryos which are then reintroduced into the woman's body.  NPT, on the other hand, relies on a natural act of intercourse to achieve pregnancy. 
  6. NaProTechnology is more cost effective  According to Collins[3], the median cost of one cycle of IVF in the United States in 2001 is $9,226.  $20-30,000 expenses are not unheard of, however, because IVF clinics prefer to sell discount packages (multiple cycles) in order to increase success rates and allow for "shared" risk.  In comparison, at one medical center in Duarte, CA (Santa Teresita), NPT has been cited as costing approximately $9,290 which includes a physician evaluation, hormone and ultrasound evaluation, and outpatient surgical treatment of infertility.  And unlike IVF, these costs are commonly covered by insurance. 
  7. Pregnancy Outcomes  There is growing concern that IVF may have significant adverse effects on the children conceived with this procedure.  In a study of birth defects after ICSI and IVF procedures, Hansen et al. [4] reported that ICSI and IVF babies were more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with a major birth defect by the end of one year of life (8.6% and 9.0%) as compared to naturally conceived babies (4.2%). 
  8. You could get pregnant again!  Because natural fertility is restored with NPT, these couples are often able to get pregnant again.  In the Boyle study[1] of 89 births in women who had failed ART, there were 14 women with 2 live births, and 1 woman with 3 live births.  Since IVF does nothing to correct the cause of infertility, there is no benefit toward subsequent pregnancies. 
  9. What will you have to show for it?  Ironically, in some cases IVF procedures cause additional harm to the female reproductive system in the course of treatment.  For example, some IVF clinics will perform surgical removal of a blocked and swollen fallopian tube in order to increase success rates[5].  In these cases, when IVF fails, fallopian tube repair is no longer an option.  This approach is contrary to the natural and restorative orientation of the NPT physician and surgeon[6].  NPT is designed to restore (not destroy) reproductive function.  If nothing else, NPT couples have had the underlying cause of the problem addressed which often results in better overall health. 
  10. What happens after you get pregnant?  This is perhaps the most important question.  Frequently, couples who pursue IVF have not thought about what happens next.  Success equals pregnancy.  Unfortunately, ignoring the underlying problem that leads to infertility in the first place can adversely affect the pregnancy and even lead to miscarriage.  With NPT, restoring health and fertility begins before conception and continues throughout the pregnancy with the aim of preventing miscarriage and promoting the optimum health of the newborn baby and mother. 
References


1.  Boyle, P., NaProTechnology (NPT) � After previously unsuccessful Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART). 2004. 

2.  Cvetkovich, L.L., The reproductive technologies: A scientific overview, in The gift of life: The proceedings of a national conference on the Vatican instruction on reproductive ethics and technology, M. Wallace and T. Hilgers, Editors. 1990, Pope Paul VI Institute Press: Omaha, NE. 
3.  Collins, J., Cost-effectiveness of In Vitro Fertilization. Seminars in Reproductive Medicine, 2001. 19: p. 279-289. 
4.  Hansen, M., et al., The risk of major birth defects after Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection and In Vitro Fertilization. New England Journal of Medicine, 2002. 346: p. 725-730. 
5.  Nackley, A.C. and S.J. Muasher, The significance of hydrosalpinx in in vitro fertilization. Fertility and Sterility, 1998. 69: p. 373-384. 
6.  Hilgers, T.W., The Medical and Surgical Practice of NaProTechnology. 2004,Omaha , NE: Pope Paul VI Institute Press. 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Copyright 2006 Majella.us



Friday, May 6, 2011

Patron Saints of Childless Couples and those that are Sterile



These two souls below need  their causes promoted for canonization. They are both from the early part of the 20th Century.  Please consider a devotion to Ven. Maria Luisa & Ven. Elisabeth. They were both very holy women that were married to medical doctors and they were both childless; but God has greater plans.  Read more about them to find out how God used them with love and goodness only He can bring about in our lives.  God bless you!


Ven. Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Patron - saints of Infertility

This is a copy of a post that was added to the Home page on April 27, 2011.
The title of this post interprets that these two women from the 19th and 20th century are not yet canonized Saints, but they are venerable and their causes will be considered by the Church as we all promote them and ask for their prayers.  Please consider promoting one or both of these beautiful souls below!


Elisabeth Leseur

The cause for the 
CANONIZATION
of Elizabeth Leseur 
is being handled in Rome by:Fr. Vito Gomez
Postulator Generalis
Curia Generalizia dei Padri Domenicani
Convento Santa Sabina (Aventino)
Piazza Pietro d'Illiria, 100153 Roma (Italia)
Telephone: (39) 6 57 941
Fax: (39) 6 57 50 675
e-mail: postulatore@curia.op.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria Luisa Josefa 
of 
the Most Blessed Sacrament



The life of Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament is no ordinary story. It is a story filled with that complete trust in God which makes life a daring adventure, the kind of adventure one encounters when one dares to love God above all things and to place one's life completely in His hands. It is a story where trust in God and obedience to His manifest designs bursts forth into great sanctity. Mother Luisita is a model of holiness in the single, married, widowed and religious state.
Maria Luisa de la Pena was born in Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco Mexico on June 21, 1866, the first surviving of fourteen children. Although she felt drawn to the religious life, at the age of fifteen in obedience to her parents, she married Doctor Pascual Rojas, a prominent physician who was twice her age. Their life together was happy, a mutual growing in love of God and neighbor. God did not grant them children. They trusted and decided together that the poor would be their children. They built the little Hospital of the Sacred Heart to serve those less fortunate. After fourteen years of married life Maria Luisa was left a widow. On his deathbed, Doctor Rojas told her that he had no doubt what she would do after he had died - she would serve God as a religious.
Eight years later Maria Luisa entered the Cloistered Carmelites and became immersed in the spirituality of Carmel. After seven months she was asked by the Archbishop to return to her work at the hospital which needed her guidance. Again she trusted God's manifest designs. Along with the hospital she opened a school and orphanage. Many others attracted by her charisma began to join her. The Archbishop re-appeared and told her that she would have to join an existing religious Congregation. Obediently she left all her works behind and joined the Sister Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. Four years later the Archbishop asked her to return she was needed at the hospital and with the children. She obeyed. More women joined her. This time the Archbishop himself suggested that she found a Religious Congregation and the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart were established on February 2, 1921. Her charism "to unite the spirit of Carmel to the active apostolate unfolded. 

Six years later, a dangerous and terrifying adventure - religious persecution in her beloved Mexico. Dressed in disguise, she came to the United States as a homeless refugee. She trusted. God rewarded her confidence and her work became established in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. More adventure followed. In 1929 she returned to Mexico and continued the work she had begun there, as well as guiding, visiting and directing the Sisters in California. She spent the remainder of her life in hiding, ill and living in extreme poverty, often without sufficient food. 
On February 11, 1937 God called His faithful servant home to Himself - an eternal adventure. In the Year of the Great Jubilee, after extensive study of her life and writings, the Church declared that she lived a life of heroic virtue and her cause toward sainthood is in progress.



Prayer For the Beatification of Venerable Mother María Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament


O Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, King and center of all hearts!
Look with merciful love on the petitions we present to You
through the intercession of Your servant, Mother Maria Luisa
Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

(Pause and request your petition)

We humbly beseech You to glorify her who was always such a 

fervent lover of Your Sacred Heart by granting us these favors
if they are for Your greater honor and glory. Amen.

(Written by Mother Margarita María,O.C.D. and approved by
Cardinal Timothy Manning August 28, 1981.) 


Graces obtained through Mother Luisita's intercession may be reported to :
Superior General
Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles
920 East Alhambra Road
Alhambra, California 91801
(626) 289-1353



New Hope for Infertility Parts I & II