Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Jon and Kate plus 8

There are few shows on TV about IF that piss me off more than this one. Yes I think that PP has done an awful job of showing the IF side of things, and that HBO show about sex has a couple that are just mean to each other and undergoing IF treatments. But Jon and Katie take the cake for me.

My first grip is that they did IUIs not IVF yet everyone I talk to, that doesn’t suffer from IF, seems to think they did IVF. This is simply not true people! High order multiples are almost non existent in IVF couples because no RE in their right mind put that many back. Sure triplets happen in IVF because sometimes one cell will split and form identical twins and other times 3 are put back and all stick. Hell I know RARE occasions when they put back 4 but not 6! Nope no respectable RE would put back in 6 or more! And the average they put back in is two. Yup two!

Second grip about the show: The fact that all six made it is a miracle! If you watch the show closely she actauly had 7 originally but one died before the end of the first tri. But still the fact that 6 grew inside her for as long as they did and then came out and survived those first few months is a miricale. If you followed the news this summer you will remember that two sets of sextuplets were born. Both sets were VERY premature and sadly none of them survived. I have no idea what the chances of a women giving birth to 6 babies at once are and having them ALL survive is but let me tell you it is RARE. There is a reason they have a TV show about it!

Third grip: This actually isn’t about the show at all it is about medical insurance. I have never been able to run the numbers but since I have a background in policy analysis I can pretty much guess with certainty that covering IVF would be cheaper than dealing with the HOM that a result of IUIs. IUIs are more likely to be covered by insurance than IVF and yet there is a higher risk of HOM with them which can cost thousands and thousands of dollars to treat because of long NICU periods and developmental delays that are common with HOM that are premies. It would make more since to cover the IVF which are more likely to work and succeed in healthy viable pg with little/no risk of HOM.

I am going to get off my soapbox now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You are actually incorrect: most RE's put back 2, but if the couple WANTS to put back, say 8 embryos, then they sign a consent form that says they are doing a procedure against the doctors advice. THAT is how a couple can have 8 babies- b/c all 8 embryos stick!! That is very rare, but obviously can happen.
It is extremely RARE if not IMPOSSIBLE for 6 children to be born from one pregnancy from IUI. With IUI, they can control the number of eggs produced. They would cancel an IUI if it looks like more than one or a few eggs are being produced.
Jon & Kate +8 had twins (from IUI), and then their 6 most obviously came from none other than IVF.