New York – Scary. Like aliens. That is how Kerry Mastera remembers her twins, Max and Wes, in the traumatic days after they were born nine weeks early. Machines forced air into the infants’ lungs, pushing their tiny chests up and down in artificial heaves. Tubes delivered nourishment. They were so small her husband’s wedding band fit around an entire baby foot.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Having a family had been an elusive goal for Jeff and Kerry Mastera, a blur of more than two years, dozens of doctor visits and four tries with a procedure called intrauterine insemination, all failures. In one year, the Masteras spent 23 percent of their income on fertility treatments.
The couple had nearly given up, but last year they decided to try once more, this time through in-vitro fertilization. Pregnancy quickly followed, as did the Mastera boys, who arrived at the Swedish Medical Center in Denver on Feb. 16 at 3 pounds, 1 ounce apiece. Kept alive in a neonatal intensive care unit, Max remained in the hospital 43 days; Wes came home in 51.
By the time it was over, medical bills for the boys exceeded $1.2 million.
Eight months later, the extraordinary effort seems worth it to the Masteras, who live in Aurora, Colo. The babies are thriving and developing their own personalities — Wes, the noisy and demanding; Max, the quiet and serious. Like many other twins conceived through in-vitro fertilization, the Mastera boys will go down in the record books as a success — both for the fertility clinic that helped create them and the neonatologists who nursed them to health.
But an exploration of the fertility industry reveals that the success comes with a price. While IVF creates thousands of new families a year, an increasing number of the newborns are twins, and they carry special risks often overlooked in the desire to produce babies.
While most twins go home without serious complications, government statistics show that 60 percent of them are born prematurely. That increases their chances of death in the first few days of life, as well as other problems including mental retardation, eye and ear impairments and learning disabilities. And women carrying twins are at greater risk of pregnancy complications.
In fact, leaders of the fertility industry and government health officials say that twins are a risk that should be avoided in fertility treatments. But they also acknowledge that they have had difficulty curtailing the trend.
Many fertility doctors routinely ignore their industry’s own guidelines, which encourage the use of single embryos during the in-vitro fertilization procedure, according to interviews and industry data. Some doctors say that powerful financial incentives hold sway in a competitive marketplace. Placing extra embryos in a woman’s womb increases the chances that one will take. The resulting babies and word of mouth can be the best way of luring new business.
Doctors are also often under pressure from patients eager for children, who have incentives to gamble as well. Frequently, they have come to IVF as a last resort after years of other treatments, are paying out of pocket, and are anxious to be successful on the first try. And many do not fully understand the risks.
Dr. William E. Gibbons, incoming president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said his organization was concerned about the risks of twin pregnancies and would issue new guidelines at a meeting next week to further discourage multiple births. “People should be made aware of the concerns that we think twins are not a good outcome,” Dr. Gibbons said.
The industry creates preterm infants with in-vitro and other fertility treatments even as government and nonprofit groups work to fight the nation’s 12.7 percent rate of prematurity, regarded as a major national health care problem.
While IVF multiples are typically the children of affluent women, much of the effort at reducing premature birth has been focused on prevention and prenatal care for low-income women. A study released last week by the March of Dimes cited fertility treatments as one of the main reasons for a 36 percent increase in prematurity in the last 25 years.
The government estimates that caring for premature infants costs $26 billion a year, including $1 billion for IVF babies, expenses that eventually get passed through the system and on to businesses and consumers.
The unusual birth of octuplets in California in January notwithstanding, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and its affiliate, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, have succeeded in reducing the number of larger multiple births from in-vitro fertilization over the last several years.
With all the millions of orphans and parentless children in the world, many of whom are starving, the idea that billions of dollars are spent for IVF treatments is a cause for questioning. while its understandable to want your own children, but if hashem makes that difficult, than the logical alternative is adoption, not IVF. From society’s perspective, the fact that the large percentage of costs gets passed on to the rest of us also makes this a leitimate public policy issue.
You don’t know what you are talking about. Hashem gave us this technology to USE!!!!!!!!!!!! There are so many frum IVF babies, B”H, how do you know that one won’t be the next Godol Hador. Or Moshiach. Hashem makes lots of things difficult for us. Sometimes we understand. Sometimes we don’t. Should we not do things that are difficult? No shidduchim……
Don’t voice your opinion in such a delicate issue!
one can never understand the pain of a childless couple!
Mi kamcho yisroel that we have an Org. Like Bonei Olam that helps out these couples to carry the burden of the money
(P.S. To adopt it costs also lots of money and its very hard to find a normal jewish child
Thank god for IVF. If you have children easy then don’t reply cuz you don’t understand this issue at all. For a couple that doesn’t have kids IVF is hard but a blessing. The outcome is great usually and if chas vesholem there are complications its being born premature. Kids end up smart cuz hashem helps. There are enough problematic children born through natural pregnancies, let’s not kid ourselves. Continue supporting bonei olam cuz IVF is the way to go.
Thank god for IVF. If you have children easy then don’t reply cuz you don’t understand this issue at all. For a couple that doesn’t have kids IVF is hard but a blessing. The outcome is great usually and if chas vesholem there are complications its being born premature. Kids end up smart cuz hashem helps. There are enough problematic children born through natural pregnancies, let’s not kid ourselves. Continue supporting bonei olam cuz IVF is the way to go.
1- The NYTimes article implies that multiple births increase the likelihood of prematurity and birth problems. It fails to mention that even with the increased incidence of such problems, the majority turn out to be healthy babies.
2- The high cost of fertility treatment is a factor in the tendency in the US to implant more than one embryo. Insurance often does not cover the fertility treatment – but they do bear the cost of neonatal care. Maybe they should reconsider the economics, and by covering at least some of the implantation costs, encourage a safer approach.
For those who concieve easily there is no way to understand what infertility stands for. There is very limited government funding out there so most of the expenses are paid by the couple themselves and that’s with the help of bonei olam! So please don’t say that uncle sam spends big bucks for infertility. Also coming from chassidishe velt (and struggling with IF, I find this article offensive and demorilizing. This site should not put up articles of this kind!
boruch hashem for ivf hope hashem gives them the doctors even more easier way to help people who need it.
#1 , that is a very poor argument, if you’ll excuse my saying so. You don’t have to answer here, obviously, but according to your logic…. Do you eat meat? Do you have more shoes or jewelry than you absolutely need? Do you take hot showers? Do you have kids, who cost oodles of $$ to feed and educate and otherwise? Do you have a couch? What about the starving children worldwide??? How can one continue to waste $ on excesses when kids are dying of starvation?
So the couple that needs IVF to have perfectly normal, healthy, happy kids should never bear kids of their own, because their 10k is all the world needs to save humanity?
And by the way, the mitzva of pru u’rvu, as Robert says, is about bringing forth your own. Adopting poor kids from Somalia (which, btw, if you’ve tried it, is FAR easier said than done!!!!!!) is an act of benevolence but by no means the same or even similar mitzva. And oh, they’re not mutually exclusive either. You can have oodles of your own kids and adopt some too.
It would take the NYTimes to find a problem with this, a positive thing, a chance to give couples a one of a kind happiness, and not say a word about how Obamination has thrown away $880 BILLION on a stimulus package,,,,, And those Liberal Jews, who are our own worst enemy they find it morally obligatory for people who have a horrible Nisayon to go and add to it, by adopting a starving child from yehupitz! Trust me, I know, diagnosed with issues, it was the biggest and most happiest occasion in my life to be called Mommy. Not by someone else’s mistake, but by my tefillos, and my subsequent offspring.
What couples do not understand whether it be ivf or infertility pills, they must look at what the future will be. It is conceivable, that down the line, after taking fertility pills, the residual effects may bring on another set of multiples in the same family.
All the organizations like Bonei Olam and A Time should prepare the parents beforehand and allow them to have social services avail them of the problems and coping skills that they are going to need.
I see this all the time that a lot of mothers are unable to get out of the house, have post-partum blues and cannot cope with daily chores and the multipesl.
Thank G-D for IVF…it has brought my daughter and son inlaw a beautiful child and for me a the most wonderful child to love…tell me what is wrong with that result?
I have many friend who have adopted children from latin america and eastern europe with great success and satisfaction. while we cannot fix all the problems of the world, you have to start somewhere. I can understand the desire of parents to have their own child using normal practices but respectfully disagree with the morality of forcing an obcession for your own child at any cost on the rest of society through the risk and consequences of VHF while there are other children available for adoption.
My wife and I went through five tries at IVF (covered by insurance). It wasn’t successful. We were able to adopt two Jewish siblings from an orphanage overseas. They were not what one insensitive person here called “normal babies” — the were toddlers, and one has a disability. If you’re interested in adopting Jewish children, there are children available — contact the Jewish Children’s Adoption Network (JCAN) in Denver. If you insist that they be healthy babies, you’ll have a hard time finding them.
Quote from article:
“While IVF multiples are typically the children of affluent women, much of the effort at reducing premature birth has been focused on prevention and prenatal care for low-income women.”
Where did they fabricate this lie? Infertility does not pick its victims by how “affluent” they are. And just like most people in the general population are not “affluent”, so too is the random infertility victim like to be not “affluent”. I found this article full of lies and bias. How infuriating! I saw on the side of the article an ad for Bonei Olam. Please continue to support them!
I also wanted to make one thing clear in response to all the tactless comments. Having children is every human beings right, not priviledge. Just because some have difficulty conceiving, that doesn’t make them less entitled to that right!
Without going into the ongoing argument on this blog (see previous posts), I would just like to comment about the crappy newspaper which brought us this self serving article.
Who if not the NYT which constantly push an ANTI MARRIAGE, ANTI FAMILY, and ANTI CHILDREN agenda, would write such a destructive article??
While all of us (the normal ones of course) understand and APPRECIATE the beauty of having children and building families at ANY COST, to the NYT it’s just too COSTLY and really a waste of time.
And then you wonder why you have comments like comment # 1? These guys are totally indoctrinated with opinions like those they read and hear in these hateful liberal media outlets.
Another thought Re: #1
I think it’s outrageous that our country should spend money on handicapped children who want to have a better life. After all, there are starving children in katmandu. What gives them the right to actually ask for prosthetics, or surgery to better their lives?
Do you realize what you wrote even? It is a basic human right to reproduce and sometimes, there is a physical handicap. Why do the infertile have less of a right than any other physical ailment?
while not a rabbi
i believe there is no bigger mitzvah than pru ur’vu.
even dogs are obligated to reproduce and we are not allowed to generally sterilize them.
in the background of a holocaust a few decades ago, how can anyone in their right mind be against jewish fecundity (fertility) to the MAXIMUM.
i personally wish the rabbis especially in the more modern communities ( i am MO)
would stress this mitzvah rather than look for the latest chumra of the month etc…
(glatt, strawberries, shabbat elevators, fancy etrogs, etc.)
while i have my issues with charedi philospophy, i respect them deeply because they have 10 children on average per family. we need to emulate them in that regard. 10 children per family speaks volumes compared to the average 3 or so in my community…
anybody who can help save a life is as if he saved an entire world, how much more so one he/she who brings in a life to this world to start!
to those of you who want to do chesed and adopt, may the Almighty be with you however dont for a second shirk your responsibility of having many of your own children..
i am blessed with 3 children and only wish i was blessed with at least another healthy 3.
a happy healthy year to all.
I think the problem is not IVF per se, but the fact that doctors implant too many embryos, thereby increasing the risk to both the babies and the mother.
Robert – you said in no 49 “to those of you who want to do chesed and adopt, may the Almighty be with you however dont for a second shirk your responsibility of having many of your own children”
I wanted to make a couple of comments. Let me preface them by saying that I was diagnosed with a severe infertility diagnosis in my teens and have known from then that it is impossible for me to have biological children – we B’H have 2 wonderful adopted children – healthy, caucasian, adopted at birth. B’H we had the finances to be able to do it and I know that there are many not in our position.
Many who adopt have NO other option for building a family. IVF with sperm donor is not an option. They are not shirking their responsibility with peru urevu. To say that is unfair and extremely hurtful!
I note that you have 3 children. You don’t not mention if there was any difficulty conceiving them…I think that anyone who has not had the experience of infertility has NO right to make judgment on those who have gone through so much physically, emotionally and financially with fertility treatment. Who are you to say that they must not shirk their responsibility to have many of their own – at any cost!!!
What about those who go through recurrent pregnancy loss? Should they too carry on trying, whatever the cost??? Again, I don;t think anyone has the right to judge