A friend sent me an October 27th article from the Los Angeles Times that reports women who undergo IVF have a much higher chance of getting ovarian cancer. While it is definitely concerning, the article points out that, “But it is rare: women's risk for ovarian cancer increases with age, but even so, between the age of 50 and 70 years old, just .58% of women will get such a diagnosis. So increases in risk, even when they appear large, do not make ovarian cancer a high likelihood.”
Still, there is something unnatural about pumping oneself up with all these hormones again and again without consequence. I am no scientist but believe there are definite risks with the increased exposure. For the FET, I patched myself up with estrogen patches every other day and took vaginal estrace to get my estrogen levels to an unnatural level. In my daily life, I do my best to avoid additional exposure to estrogen-receptor plastics which have a myriad of health risks so question how the IVF exposure is harmless. Even the meds I used – Vivelle- is prescribed for post-menopausal women and at a much lower dose – two patches per week. I was using 12.
I also remember when post-menopausal women were told to take estrogen or risk heart disease. My mom was one of them and four years later, got breast cancer. Just like the ovarian cancer tumors reported as a result of IVF, it was slow growing and easily treated with chemo. Again, I am no scientist but lets be honest, we are guinea pigs. The doctors still have no fricking idea of the long-term impact of IVF drugs.
And crazy enough, it doesn’t mean I wont try again. I do want another baby and at 40 with a biological clock that could wake up a city, its hard to not try something that has a 40% chance of working.
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