ConceptionsRepro

We started going to Conceptions a little over a year ago, after I had had one miscarriage and we had trouble getting pregnant since. Dr. Bush did some blood work and genetic testing, which revealed that I was an intermediate carrier for the Fragile X syndrome but that everything else looked normal. We then started doing IUI and I got pregnant on my second cycle. But that pregnancy turned out to be unviable, as I found out when I came in for my first ultrasound at 7 weeks and they didn't see anything on the ultrasound. They did a d&c the following week. The poc labs that came back indicated that the product of conception was normal and they had no explanation for why I didn't sustain the pregnancy. Dr. Bush then brought us in for a (very brief) consult and explained that because this was my second miscarriage, he would do tests for blood clotting disorders, so see if that was the problem. They took my blood, sent off for the tests, and I didn't hear anything from them for weeks.

Then, weeks later, I get an email from someone at Conceptions informing me that my previous nurse had left, and that she's my new nurse and they're ready to start my next IUI cycle. My first thought was, "Huh? What about the results of my blood work?" So I asked her about that and she said that she's very sorry, but my blood clotting tests all came back clear and they have no explanation for my pregnancy loss. I was pretty upset and still had no explanation for what happened but was afraid to start all over again at a new clinic so did 3 more IUIs at Conceptions. All the while, taking Progesterone and other really expensive fertility drugs. None of these IUIs resulted in a (known) pregnancy. After these three IUIs, and some more frustrating experiences with staff at Conceptions, my husband and I finally decided to try a different clinic. The doctor at our new clinic met with us, and spent a lot more time with us than Dr. Bush ever had. She requested all of our previous lab work from Conceptions, and ordered additional blood tests. These tests revealed that I have TWO conditions that make a normal, healthy pregnancy difficult. The first is that I have a balanced chromosome translocation, a chromosomal condition that significantly decreases the chance of conceiving a genetically normal offspring. The second is that I have lupus anticoagulant syndrome, which significantly increases my chances of having an early miscarriage. After speaking with my new doctor, I finally have some answers as well as information I need for all the choices I have going forward with another pregnancy.

I'm so glad that none of my subsequent IUIs at Conceptions resulted in a known pregnancy, because I most certainly would have had another miscarriage. I also don't understand how Dr. Bush could have missed my lupus anticoagulant syndrome. Looking back at my blood clotting labs from Conceptions, I see that there were various flags for lupus antibodies. And this was after I had already had 2 failed pregnancies. I can maybe understand why he didn't test for the chromosome translocation (since my last pregnancy was genetically normal), but how could he have missed the lupus anticoagulant factor? The indicators were there.

The prices at Conceptions are exorbitant, the service is impersonal, and many of the staff don't study your charts prior to treating you or know what they're doing. And our experience with Dr. Bush was that he either didn't know what he was doing, or didn't care. There are a couple of good nurses at Conceptions, and it honestly makes me wonder why they stay.