TORONTO, Ontario, May 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Nearly half of Canadians are affected in some way, either personally or within family, by infertility, a new study has found.
According to the online survey released yesterday by Conceivable Dreams, an Ontario organization dedicated to raising awareness about infertility in Canada, one in six Canadian couples are impacted by infertility. Conceivable Dreams claims that 15% of reproductive age couples in Ontario will need medical help to conceive.
The organization says infertility not only dashes couples’ hopes of a family, but also leads to “depression, anxiety, stress, loss of self-esteem, health problems, sleep problems, sexual dysfunction, impaired quality of life, and reduced job performance.”
“Children are Ontario’s most valuable future resource,” says the Conceivable Dreams website.
However, according to the organization, the solution to the problem lies in increased access to and medical coverage for reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), a technologies that requires the creation, and then destruction of “excess” embryos while attempting to achieve pregnancy.
“While many couples are hopeful to conceive, many families never realize their dreams of parenthood,” said Joanne Horibe, founding member of Conceivable Dreams, in a press release yesterday. She believes the cost of IVF remains the biggest factor keeping these families from realizing their dreams.
According to the online survey, conducted May 2 –5 by Leger Marketing’s online panel in preparation for the May 16-20 National Infertility Awareness Week, 78 percent agree that Canadians across Canada should have equal coverage of fertility treatments. Another 61 percent think provincial health plans should cover these fertility treatments.
But while IVF methods are routinely praised by the mainstream medical establishment and the media, what many couples do not realize and are not told, is the existence of natural, safe, and ethical alternatives to IVF.
One such natural system actually has a higher success rate than IVF; it is known as NaPro Technology.
Although widely ignored in medical circles, NaPro has been hailed as a solution to infertility that has consistently shown better outcomes for mother and child than assisted reproduction. There are fewer miscarriages, and no increased rate of multiple pregnancies.
A natural, fertility-care approach to women’s health, the method was developed by Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers of the Creighton University School of Medicine based on thirty years of research into the woman’s fertility cycle.
A 2004 study by Dr. Hilgers’ Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska found NaPro up to 81% effective at achieving pregnancy, depending on the condition, whereas success rates for IVF have ranged from 21-27%.
To learn more about NaPro, read extensive LSN coverage here.