Getting Pregnant at 45 - Chicago,IL

I loved Dr.Reinhart. He was very caring (and so was his staff). I did not feel like just a number. I know have 4 year old twins!! Good luck!

I tried getting pg w/Dr. Kazer at N'Western, but found him completely incompetent w/women over 40. Needless to say, I wasn't successful w/Kazer. Moved on to U of C, and then finally was successful at FCI in Highland Park (Dr. Marut). However, it did take donor eggs to get me pregnant :-)

Please try not to be seduced by all the claims that accupuncture, diet, herbs, etc. will get you pregnant. Any RE worth his/her salt will also not sugarcoat the truth....that it will be practically impossible for you to get pg w/your own eggs at 45. I do wish you good luck, however.

Wish I had better news, but I've "been there, done that".

the location with the best results is northwestern. i go to dr kazar. The other option is embryo donation with dr randy morris. he is north. Or egg donation is also an option. There aren't any tricks to getting pregnant at a later age, it is mainly genetics and one's eggs. Sure being a healthy weight, avoiding caffeine and generally being healthy are good but for the most part it is your fsh levels, and the quality of your eggs. You can use a little drug stimulation to help a bit but the benefits are marginal. I would still use the extra help from the drugs but recognize that there is no magic here. Good luck.

I like Dr Confino at Northwestern -- good luck!

No advice, but I had a planned baby (my third)at 44 and everything was fine. She is now 8 and while I am definitely the oldest mom in her class, it isn't by all that much. Hope all goes well for you!

Hi Susan,

My husband and I went to Dr. Rinehart in Evanston. He's not warm and fuzzy if you want or need that. We were successful with triplet boys, I delivered 4 days after my 40th birthday. He'll be quite frank with you about your chances of getting pregnant.

Good Luck,
Laura

Check out Randine Lewis's book and fertility program. I think the website is thefertilesoul.com or something similar (google the fertle soul). I went on one of her retreats and it was life changing. She is in North Carolina but they will work with your local team if you want to follow the program. I was skeptical to begin with but it was an amazing experience and am now pg. I am under 40 but over half the people there were trying to conceive in their mid-40's. Good luck!

I do not recommend Dr Mary Wood Molo. You never see her. Her nurses do all the work. Wasted a lot of valuable fertility time and money there.

I conceived with IVF at the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine (CCRM). I tried a local clinic but, although I'm only 36, my body responded to the meds like a woman in her early 40's and we switched to CCRM because we didn't want to waste any more time.

It's important to look at a clinic's IVF success rates as they are reported via the CDC's statistics. Here's the webpage:

http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/ART2005/clinics05.asp

CCRM is expensive, but their rates are double the best clinic in Chicago. At 45, a clinic with a really good lab will be important as egg quality is likely to be an issue. CCRM has one of the best (if not THE best) lab in the country. People go there from all over the world.

Good luck! And, congratulations on your beautiful child!

I had a baby at 40. When I was 38, I had infertility treatment, but did not get pregnant. At 39 I got pregnant, without fertility treatment. My 1 year old son is healthy and beautiful. Prior to finally getting pregnant I had spent 9 days in Florida, swimming, spending time in the sun, eating out, drinking a few cocktails and relaxing....NOT thinking about getting pregnant. Someone I work with had a baby at 45 and it was unplanned...no treatment, no nothing. The little girl is beautiful and healthy. Another woman I work with is pregnant at 40 after only 1 cycle of IVF. Northside Parent Network has a support group for parents over 40. I went to one of their social events and there were LOTS of parents who were older than you are. It's great that you don't have the pressure of "if this doesn't work, I'll be childless." You can relax and know that if it's meant to be, it will happen. Maybe you could do something spiritual so that you can be in touch with the idea that whether you get pregnant or not, your life will be perfect. The universe will take care of you. Go for it!!

I got married at a late age and didn't start trying for babies until I was 37. I wasn't ovulating, so I went to an acupuncturist, who did stimulate my ovulation. A lot of people are skeptical about it, but they do use acupunture at Northwestern's fertility clinic. I saw an article on it in Sun Times or Tribune about 2 years ago. A German study showed that women who recieved acupunture for 30 minutes before and after thier procedures had a higher likelihood of pregnancy.

I also started using a product called Juice Plus that I heard about through a nutritionist. It is all your daily fruits and vegetables in capsule form. There have been several studies done with this product, including pregnancy, and women who take Juice Plus have a lower risk of premature births, preclampsia, etc. I got pregnant within 2 months of starting the Juice Plus. I was also on HCG shots during this time, but I contribute the Juice Plus to a healther diet conducive for concieving. When I did my 1st trimester screening for Downs and other defects, my blood work looked like I was a 20 year old woman having a baby instead of a 39 year old woman at risk. My risk for some of the birth defects were 1 in 19 million!

I saw Mary Wood-Molo at Rush ###-###-####) She's sort of a diagnostic genius and caught things that the other doctors missed. Simple things that allowed me to get pregnant without traditional fertility treatments (although she offers treatment--I just didn't need it). She also helped two friends of mine conceive two children each, both with a combo of drugs and insemination. Mary is the person you go to when your fertility doctor didn't work out. She's also incredibly compassionate and was unbelievably kind when I miscarried my first child. She wept with me and gave me her personal number (don't worry--I have a gorgeous 9 month old daughter now). She included my husband in everyhthing and explained stuff in ways we could understand. I LOVE her and trust her completely. She's on all sorts of magazine covers--everybody loves her. And she knows how to bill insurance to get you more coverage. Can't recommend her enough.

My mom had me at 45. She says prayer and liquor are what did it for her!