I've learned a lot about the female reproductive system through the process of trying to get pregnant, and a big lesson is that there's a lot going on in the uterus and vagina, fallopian tubes, etc. Thanks to the wonders of science, I've been in the room to watch as MJ's doctors inserted ultrasound devices into her reproductive system to check out "what she has going on down there." One of those things going on in the uterus is that egg cells are being developed each cycle after a period, and eventually they turn into follicles that get really big in size (doctors can somehow measure it on the screen to the precise millimeter) and determine when they are ready to be fertilized by the sperm (this would normally be where I would come in). However, thanks again to the miracles of science, there are other options now to try to fertilize those eggs, and the one that MJ and I have tried once already was to retrieve the follicles through a sort of vacuum or suction cump, artificially inseminate them with sperm in a lab, and then let them develop into fully fertilized embryos. Hopefully, one or more of these embryos are deemed ready to go and sent for testing, where it's determined whether they have the right number of chromosomes, look good in appearance and shape, etc. For a truly miraculous process like childbirth, the egg retrieval process sure sounds more like making dumplings on Chinese New Year for the Yan family (gotta be in the right temperature with the right amount of ingredients, and must look good in apperance and color).
Egg retrieval, unfortunately, is NOT an easy experience for MJ, and I imagine not a great experience for most potential mothers out there. I've learned over this process in order to feel sympathetic to what MJ is going through, I actually need to be experience what it's like to be in the room, (kind of an empiric style of observation) so I've followed her to the medical clinic, and luckily the fertility clinic has allowed the big, bad man to go into the examination room with MJ. The "operating table" that MJ lies down on is unique for expecting mothers or wannabe-mothers in our case, where there are leg posts up high and apart so that MJ can rest her legs while the doctors inspect her reproductive system, and the doctors physically insert a tube up through her vagina into her body. I can't imagine the tube is very warm and comfortable, and although the doctors are nice about going in and trying to do their best I can't help but compare it to an unwanted guest coming into your most private areas and rustling around trying to find the best angles to take a look inside. I can only imagine how it feels if someone were to push a tube into my reproductive system: probably one of a man's worst nightmares.
It's sad to think that this is just the BEGINNING of the journey of childbirth: if we do somehow succeed at egg retrieval and egg deposit and implantation and getting a blastocyst/ fetus/ eventually a baby, that's where the real fun starts of doing testing, etc. All for the chance to add a person to one's family who you don't even know what he or she will be like: life is like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you're gonna get, you could get a well-behaved angel kid....or the opposite.
Statistics show that people who believe in religion tend to be happier than those who don't. That's just on average over a cross section of like 9 billion people, but one side effect of religion is being involved in a community and seeing the same people week after week. That's what I miss about being part of human society now; the community aspect of it. The closest I come to believing in religion, ironically, is being in a room of science, the examination room, seeing those follicles that the doctor pulls up: somehow, women were born with those eggs inside them, and the only way to create more humans is to have trust and love enough to have someone with sperm to connect with those eggs. It's really the closest I come to beliving in religious forces, no matter what the science says that it is just part human evolution/ how the human body works. I'm sure egg retrieval is probably not looked on fondly by religion, maybe relying too much on science and man-made techniques? Well, maybe we can just give the religious forces a little bit of a boost to help with this baby-making! (and with a little less pain for MJ, please).
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