KatCarney

Desperate for a Family
Nov 21, 2005, 04:21 PM PST

By Debby Knox
24-Hour News 8

More than six million people of childbearing age experience infertility every year. When the numbers are broken down locally, it’s estimated in the Town of Fishers, there are approximately 4,000 people who may have trouble conceiving a baby.

In our special report, two women reveal their pain and open their lives.

The miracle of conception is elusive for thousands of couples in Indiana. There is heartbreak and fear so profound some marriages break up. But if a baby is successfully conceived and born, there is no joy greater.

Each couple's story is uniquely their own. Mindi Schmidt is 29 years old. A former teacher, Mindi and her husband Brent are anxious to have a second baby. She's been through infertility treatments so she knows what's ahead of her.

“I'd go 35 days and then 46 days and then maybe 39 days, so it was always that anticipation. ‘Oh, maybe I'm pregnant’ and then find out, no I'm not,” she said. “I was a science project; every morning here I am taking my temperature.”

Jennifer Knepp and her husband endured two and a half years of fertility treatments in silence. They told no one. Knepp just got pregnant, but only after four cycles of in vitro fertilization failed.

“Last year alone we spent $35,000 out of pocket. That's cash. You're writing checks and you don't care. You want to be a parent,” she said.

“Not only is it hard physically, but it's hard emotionally and spiritually and just seeing all these people who can get pregnant on their own so easily either take it for granted or talk poorly about their children. They didn't know what we were going through. It was hard nonetheless.”

It turns out both Mindi and Jennifer have the same problem. They have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). It may have started when they were in their early teens. It's estimated that anywhere from five to ten percent of women have the condition. Irregular periods are one sign.

Dr. John Jarrett is an infertility specialist who has studied PCOS. “Polycystic ovaries is the leading cause of female infertility in this country and in the past it's been very difficult to treat,” he said.

There are clues that lead to this diagnosis. Dr. Jarrett asked Mindi if she had been athletic in high school. The answer was yes. “In high school I played basketball, soccer and volleyball. Those were my three main sports that I played. I also played softball and ran track.”

Jennifer wasn't overly athletic, but she has one of the other markers. She's always been thin.

Young women start out with a normal uterus and two ovaries. In PCOS, the ovaries become enlarged, smooth and they develop cysts. The cause is thought to be a hormone disturbance.

“What happens in the young, thin women, they have very normal testosterone levels. Those are not elevated. But their estrogen levels are decreased because they are thin and athletic,” said Dr. Jarrett.

Once an ovary begins to function in a polycystic way, Dr. Jarrett says it’s difficult to reverse back to normal function. “An egg that grows up in an environment in which there's a relative excess of male hormone is not a healthy egg. Eggs do not like male hormones.”

Both Mindi and Jennifer had normal levels of testosterone but decreased levels of estrogen. That apparently set in motion PCOS.

But the story isn't over.

“The good news, it's very treatable and it's very correctable. That's the exciting part,” said Dr. Jarrett.

On Tuesday at 11:00 pm, find out about treatment for PCOS and how Jennifer and Mindi fare.

Source: http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.a...48616&nav=0Ra7

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